LGBT Pride events

Events celebrating and protesting LGBT rights took place in many parts of the world in the last several months. Pride parades were met with violence or intimidation in Russia, Georgia, and Albania while other places saw wild street parties. Three million people celebrated on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, often considered the biggest Pride event in the world. Activists in Uganda and Chile sought to change laws, while in the United States Barack Obama became the first American president to endorse same-sex marriage. Gathered here are pictures from events related to gay rights issues, LGBT Pride celebrations, and the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. -- Lane Turner (39 photos total)

Mark Wilson carries a rainbow flag during San Francisco's 42nd annual gay pride parade on June 24, 2012. Organizers said more than 200 floats, vehicles and groups of marchers took part in the parade. (Noah Berger/Associated Press)

An attendee with rainbow-colored lips pauses during the annual gay pride parade in Sao Paulo June 10, 2012. About three million people took part in the parade under the theme of "Homophobia has a cure". (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/GettyImages) 

Revelers dance in front of the Stonewall Inn during the New York gay pride march on June 24, 2012. The annual civil rights demonstration commemorates the Stonewall riots of 1969, which erupted after a police raid on a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images) 

A participant dressed as the "Pink Panther" joins the "Regenbogenparade" (Rainbow Parade) in Vienna on June 16, 2012. (Herwig Prammer/Reuters) 

LAPD officers march in the Los Angeles pride parade in West Hollywood, Calif. on June 10, 2012. (Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters) 

Celebrants join the Rainbow Pride Parade in Bratislava, Slovakia on June 9,2012. (Samuel Kubani/AFP/GettyImages) 

Jak Kazmarek rides with the "Dykes on Bikes" as they kick off San Francisco's 42nd annual gay pride parade on June 24, 2012. (Noah Berger/Associated Press) 

Sean Sutton (left) greets his boyfriend of two years, U.S. Navy sailor Jonathan Jewell, with a kiss after Jewell returned from a seven-month deployment aboard the USS Stennis in Bremerton, Wash. on March 2, 2012. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says that with the repeal last year of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that prohibited gays from serving openly in the military, gays and lesbians can now be proud to be in uniform. (Joe Dyer/seattlepi.com/Associated Press) 

Members of the Portland Men's Gay Chorus perform in the annual gay pride parade in Portland, Ore. on June 18, 2012. (Randy L. Rasmusse/The Oregonian/Associated Press) 

An Indian dancer from the transgender community sits in the lap of a participant as part of a performance during a conference in New Delhi on June 2, 2012. The event, called the first national Hijra Habba, brought together transgenders, eunuchs, government representatives and non-governmental organizations to discuss ways of achieving equality for members of the community in India. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press) 

Albanian gay, lesbian and human rights activists cycle under the rain to press for their rights along the main street of Tirana on May 14, 2012. Activists shelved plans for a larger gay pride parade to coincide with International Day Against Homophobia after a deputy defense minister said they should be beaten with thick sticks. (Stringer/Reuters) 

A supporter of the LGBT community joins an event marking the "International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia" in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar held its first gay pride celebrations on May 17, organizers said, in a sign of liberalizing social attitudes paralleling political reforms in the army-ruled nation. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP/GettyImages) 

Samba Chesterfield, Director of the Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe, prepares to hoist their official flag alongside the Zimbabwean flag during a belated commemoration of the May 17 International Day against Xenophobia and Transphobia in Harare, Zimbabwe on May, 19, 2012. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has often called for gays and lesbians to be punished for their behavior which he said was worse than pigs and dogs. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press) 

U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a reception in honor of national LGBT Pride Month in the East Room of the White House on June 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. In the midst of a re-election campaign against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Obama's recent declaration of support for same-sex marriage was celebrated as a key endorsement among gay rights groups. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 

Maximiliano Hott (right) and Jorge Aravena kiss during a session in the Chilean senate after approval of an anti-discrimination bill in Valparaiso on May 9, 2012. According to local media, the Senate approved the new law which establishes that every Chilean, including LGBT individuals, will be guaranteed protection reflecting international human rights law. (Eliseo Fernandez/Reuters) 

Gay rights activists gather at Kampala's High Court on June 25, 2012, where the court began hearing a landmark legal case filed by gay activists against the government over the closure of a rights workshop. Four campaigners lodged a lawsuit against ethics and integrity minister Simon Lokodo after he ordered police to raid and shut down a meeting of gay rights activists in February in the town of Entebbe, Uganda. (Isaac Kasamani/AFP/GettyImages) 

A gay rights activist (right) clashes with an Orthodox Christian activist in Tbilisi on May 17, 2012. Dozens of gay rights activists marched on the streets to mark The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia were stopped by Orthodox Christian activists. (David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters) 

An anti gay rights activist shows a badge during a flash mob organized by gay rights protesters in St.Petersburg, Russia on May 17, 2012. (Valentina Svistunova/Interpress/Reuters) 

A man (right), protesting against a gay pride parade, attacks a gay rights activist near the headquarters of the Moscow city Duma in central Moscow on May 27, 2012. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters) 

Interior Ministry officers detain a gay rights activist during a gay pride parade, unsanctioned by the city authorities, near the Mayor's office in central Moscow on May 27, 2012. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters) 

Practicing Mormons march in a gay pride parade in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 3, 2012. Over 300 active Mormons and more than 5,000 members of the LGBT community with their supporters marched in the parade as part of the Utah Pride Festival. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters) 

A tourist looks at participants in a pride parade in Ljubljana, Slovenia on June 2, 2012. (Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters) 

A child tries to catch balloons attached to a man joining a gay pride parade in Warsaw on June 2, 2012. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/GettyImages) 

Municipality workers paint a pedestrian crossing in the colors of a rainbow flag before the start of the annual gay pride parade in Tel Aviv on June 8, 2012. (Amir Cohen/Reuters) 

Leo the dog joins the Boston gay pride parade on June 9, 2012. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff) 

Participants march during the second gay pride parade in Split, Croatia on June 9, 2012. (Antonio Bronic/Reuters) 

People participate in a gay pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil on June 10, 2012. (Andre Penner/Associated Press) 

A huge rainbow flag is unfold during the annual gay pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil on June 10, 2012. About three million people celebrated the theme "Homophobia has a cure". (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/GettyImages) 

Participants march with rainbow flags during a gay pride parade in Zagreb, Croatia on June 16, 2012. (Antonio Bronic/Reuters) 

Demonstrators march for gay rights in San Jose, Costa Rica on June 16, 2012. (Kent Gilbert/Reuters) 

People demonstrate against the first gay pride in Thessaloniki, Greece on June 23, 2012. The bishop of Thessaloniki opposed the city's first-ever gay pride march, calling the residents of the northern port city to protest the event. (Sakis Mitrolidis/AFP/GettyImages) 

Marcher Benn Mendoza carries fellow marcher Tony Mitchells as they participate in the gay pride parade in New York on June 24, 2012. (Keith Bedford/Reuters) 

A participant pauses before Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day parade on June 23, 2012. (John MacDougall/AFP/GettyImages) 

A celebrant poses for photographers as activists walk past carrying a gay pride flag during celebrations marking the International Day Against Homophobia in Havana on May 12, 2012. International Day Against Homophobia is celebrated globally on May 17 commemorating the World Health Organization's declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness. (Javier Galeano/Associated Press) 

Members of the LGBT community pass by a cathedral during the XII Parade of Sexual Diversity in Guatemala City on June 23, 2012. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters) 

Demonstrators march past the ancient Colosseum during a gay pride parade in Rome on June 23, 2012. (Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press)

Participants carrying rainbow flags join a parade celebrating sexual diversity in Monterrey, Mexico on June 23, 2012. (Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

A woman takes photographs as a participant walks past during a parade celebrating sexual diversity in Guadalajara, Mexico on June 23, 2012. (Alejandro Acosta/Reuters)

A child holds a balloon under a Pride flag held by participants marching during Seattle's annual gay pride parade on June 24, 2012. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com/Associated Press)