By Charlotte Van Campenhout and Milan Berckmans
AMSTERDAM, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of revellers lined Amsterdam's canals on Saturday for the flagship event of WorldPride, resulting in a boisterous LGBT celebration and protest that organisers and participants said was particularly urgent after last week's deadly attack on Berlin's Pride.
Scores of boats festooned with rainbow flags and balloons cruised through the city while huge crowds in colourful outfits cheered from the bank.
The
canal parade is the annual highlight of Amsterdam Pride. The city was chosen by Pride organisers from around the world to host this year's WorldPride as it marks 25 years since it hosted the world's first legally recognised same-sex marriage. The slogan for the two weeks of events across the Netherlands is "UNITY".
VISIBLE AND COVERT SECURITY MEASURES
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the country's first openly gay prime minister, also attended, while police officers patrolled on bicycles, in boats and in cars, helping ensure the event passed off safely.
Following the Berlin Pride attack last weekend, mayor Femke Halsema said Amsterdam would take unspecified extra measures.
One person was killed and more than 30 injured in Berlin when a van was driven into a crowd by a suspect later shot dead by German police.
"(The extra police) doesn't bother me at all, it is just a shame that this is necessary", 55-year-old Tim Cox said, adding that everybody should be accepted as they are.
A spokesperson for Amsterdam Pride said extra security would not change the focus, which was still on inclusivity.
"The aim of terrorism is to spread fear, and we must not give in to that," spokesperson Martijn Albers said.
BERLIN ATTACK SHOWS IMPORTANCE OF PRIDE
The events in Berlin increased Tré Shawn Griffin's motivation to attend the Canal Parade.
"People try to intimidate you, want you to run away and hide. You want me to hide? I'm going to come out even louder," the 32-year-old American, who has lived in the Netherlands for several years, said.
Julianne van der Heide, 25, who was out on a boat, said the Berlin attack only proved "how important and necessary Pride still is to this day".
Thousands of people attended a ceremony for the victims of the Berlin attack on Tuesday, laying flowers at Amsterdam's "Homomonument", a canalside memorial to victims of anti-gay oppression, formed of pink granite triangles.
The Berlin attack will be at the back of everyone's mind, said Caspar Pisters of the Dutch HIV Association. "As long as there are people, there will be LGBTQ+ people, and no amount of violence, not even a million bombs, can change that," he said.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Milan Berckmans,Editing by Peter Graff, Kirsten Donovan)
