Thousands take to Copacabana beach to celebrate Rio's gay pride parade

Thousands of revellers are dancing on Copacabana beach to celebrate Rio de Janeiro's annual gay pride parade.

Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo Crivella offered no city funding this year, but organisers said they financed festivities with the support of private sector businesses and organisations.

In 2016, the city funded 50% of the parade, which costs around US$200,000 to put on.

Sunday's celebrations featured dozens of Brazilian artists performing on trucks traveling down Copacabana beach.

Despite its reputation as a liberal country, Brazil has some of Latin America's highest rates of violence against gay and transgender people.

- AP