Gay Pride Celebration – Worldwide 2016

June is designated as Gay Pride Month for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and celebrations are held throughout the world to honor the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had and will continue to have on history.

Hundreds of thousands of people from New York to San Francisco marched to celebrate gay pride, honor those killed in the Florida gay nightclub massacre, and promote tolerance.

The event is not just about celebrating the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community – it is an overall symbol for love and acceptance, as these happy couples prove.

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Istanbul’s 14th Pride Week got banned due to ‘security reasons’, but  lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists and supporters still tried to gather and spread all around Taksim to carry out their annual celebrations. Police forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.

Police on Sunday rounded up several activists in Istanbul who assembled on a main pedestrian street to issue a statement in honor of gay rights and to denounce the ban. Police later fired tear gas and rubber pellets to disperse activists gathering in side streets. Two European Parliament legislators were also briefly detained.

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Celebrators in New York caught a glimpse of the potential next president of the United States Sunday when she appeared, unexpectedly, alongside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio in the city’s pride parade. Clinton greeted paradegoers as she walked along a portion of the route.

Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church should ask gay people for forgiveness:”I think that the Church not only should apologize … to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by [being forced to] work.” Francis told reporters when asked if the church should express remorse for its treatment of homosexuals. He reportedly looked sad that that apology became more urgent after the mass shooting in Orlando earlier this month.