The third “Sofia Pride” gay parade is taking place on Saturday under the motto “Love equality, embrace diversity”.

The procession will start from the Love Bridge at 4:30 pm (GMT+2) and will continue for a few hours.

At the same time a procession against the gay parade will begin at 11:00 am (GMT+2).

In the beginning of the week, 25 organizations have united for a joint declaration against the gay parade. The Holy Synod of the Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church was one of them, denouncing the parade, calling it “public, shameless and disgraceful demonstration of the sin of Sodom and a violation of the rights of the Synod”.

However, “Sofia Pride” found a lot of supporters too. The DSB political party (Democrats for Strong Bulgaria), as well as a number of Ambassadors in Bulgaria has expressed their support of the parade.

A day before the 3rd edition of “Sofia Pride:, the organizers said they hope for a peaceful procession but are also prepared for potential incidents.

“We will not allow the participants to run, so that the parade will be over fast. We want a peaceful procession with no fear,” Jana Brurer-Tavanier, one of the organizers, said Friday.

The organizers claim their goal is to have a peaceful procession that will not be reduced to the cliche, imposed by the media and society.

“This is a parade of normal people who are simply not attracted to people from their own sex,” another organizer, Kristina Nikolova said, adding that in the last few years there is an increase of homophobic acts in Bulgaria.

The 2009 gay parade, passing very quickly and under enhanced security measures, gathered around 300 people. This year, the organizers expect more than 700 participants from all over the country.

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