Tens of thousands came together last Saturday to celebrate Gay Pride in Reykjavík, Iceland’s annual celebration of LGBT rights and of diversity in general. As in previous years, Reykjavík’s mayor Jón Gnarr spearheaded the parade, this year adorning a traditional Icelandic woman’s costume.
The fifteenth edition of the Reykjavík Gay Pride took a more political note than on any other year, with several floats in the parade denouncing the treatment of homosexuals in Russia, where a law that was recently introduced bans “homosexual propaganda”. Others denounced the detention of the openly gay whistle-blower Bradley Manning.
The parade also saw the participation of U.S. Ambassador Luis Arreaga along with the embassy staff, as well as Canadian ambassador Stuart Wheeler and his husband.
The celebration ended with an open-air concert at Árnarhóll, which saw performers such as electro-pop band FM Belfast and Icelandic gay icon Páll Óskar.
Photo: Ólafur Kr. Ólafsson.