Thousands turn out for Paris Pride march

Around 30,000 people turnedoutfor the annualPridemarchinParisSaturday, police said, starting for the first time in one of the capital's working-class suburbs.

Carrying rainbow flags and a range of placards, themarchheaded from Pantin, on the edge of the city, into to Place de la Republique in the centre, a meeting point for many political gatherings.

Themarchwas deliberately started outside the fashionable centre of the capital to make it more inclusive, said Matthieu Gatipon-Bachette, spokesman for the Inter-LGBT.

TheParisgay community knows these suburbs very little, said 34-year-old Romain, aPrideregular.

"To bringPridehere, it's to show that it belongs to everybody," he added, walking hand in hand with his partner.

This weekend'sPridemarches in cities around the world come in the wake of a row in Europe over different countries approach to LGBTQ rights.

The leaders of more than half of the EU's member states on Thursday declared their support for defending the rights of LGBTQ people after a controversial law passed in Hungary.

A letter signed by the heads of state ahead of an EU summit deplored the "threats against fundamental rights, and in particular the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation".

While they did not directly mention Hungary, this was a cloaked reference to the law, which bans LGBTQ educational content for children and is due to come into effect in Hungary soon.