1 million attend Toronto's gay pride event

TORONTO, June 30 (UPI) -- The closing parade for Toronto's 28th annual gay and lesbian pride festivities was attended by at least 1 million people, organizers said.

The downtown core was choked with men and women in wildly elaborate costumes, and in some cases, nothing but body paint, the Toronto Sun reported.

The parade wound through the city for three hours. There were no police reports of major problems, the newspaper said. For that matter, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and four other police forces had recruiting booths set up, the Sun said.

A first for this year was the inclusion of the Canadian armed forces, with about 18 soldiers, who has said they are gay, marching in the parade.

Politicians from the local up to federal level also marched, with the exception of anyone from the federal Conservative party, the Sun said.

The parade's international grand marshal was Gareth Henry of Jamaica, who is seeking refugee status in Canada. He has told various local media he fled Jamaica because of police intimidation and says 13 of his friends have been killed there since 2004.