Paris parade for gay rights

TENS of thousands of revellers turned out in Paris for a gay pride parade, with many hailing the legalisation of gay marriage in New York and demanding that France follow suit.

Marchers in drag, bras or striped sailor outfits, paraded under a sea of rainbow-coloured flags and jigged to thumping techno beats on slow-moving floats that became moveable dance floors.

But elsewhere in Europe, Russian police detained 14 gay rights activists trying to hold an unsanctioned equal rights rally in St Petersburg.