Gay pride revelers in Sao Paulo reclaim Brazil’s national symbols

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — The iconic yellow and green of Brazil’s flag mixed with a sea of rainbow-colored tutus, hand fans and drag queen hairdos at Sunday’s LGBTQ+ pride parade in Sao Paulo. The event along the city’s main thoroughfare is among the biggest gay pride celebrations in the world. Every year it attracts thousands of people to celebrate the sexual diversity in a country synonymous with street partying but where violence and discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community has surged in recent years. This year organizers made a special appeal for participants to wear green and yellow in a pointed rebuke to far right followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro who in recent time appropriated Brazil’s national symbols for themselves.