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November 20, 2007

Thousands March in Gay Pride Parade in Argentine Capital

Thousands of Argentines waving rainbow flags marched in the annual Gay Pride Parade Saturday in Buenos Aires, where some said they still face discrimination in one of the most gay-friendly cities in Latin America.

The capital became the first city in the region to pass same-sex civil union laws in 2002, and this year it played host to soccer's ''gay world cup'' and saw the opening of the first five-star hotel catering to gays.

But activists said more needs to be done to correct discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender people.

''It's a society that...projects an image of equality, but if you really get on the inside, there's discrimination,'' said Alejandra Victoria Portatadino of the Homosexual Community of Argentina, or CHA.

Dancing atop booming sound trucks and waving from rainbow-flag-draped cars, the revelers snaked through downtown Buenos Aires past the capital's Government House and the iconic Obelisk monument.

CHA leader Marcelo Suntheim said the organization is lobbying to expand same-sex unions nationwide and outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

''We need pensions for widows, inheritance rights, and adoption rights,'' he added.

Since 2002, civil union laws have passed in parts of Mexico and Brazil. And this year, Colombia gave same-sex couples the right to share assets and add partners to health insurance plans.

Argentina's first Gay Pride Parade was held in 1992. (Katherine Glover, AP)

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