Over 2,000 people join gay pride parade through center of Croatian capital

Over 2,000 people marched through Croatia's capital Zagreb on Saturday (16 June) for the city's annual gay pride, calling on the government to give same-sex couples more rights.

Campaigners in the parade, who included Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, waved rainbow flags, blew whistles and carried banners reading 'Hatred is Not a Family Value' and 'I Have Rights Because I'm a Lesbian Woman - Human'.

Organizers called for 'equality, dignity and visibility' for all gay and bisexual people and their families, reported the AFP.

Last year (2011), gay pride celebrations in the Croatian city of Split saw 12 people injured in violent attacks.

But this year's events in both Split and Zagreb went ahead without a major incident thanks to a heavy police presence.

The extra protection for marchers is being seen as a sign of Croatia's determination to safeguard LGBT rights ahead of joining the EU in 2013.

'We have to be here to show that we're the country where the laws are respected and that we will not allow violence or discrimination based on racial or ethnic grounds, on choice of life style or any orientation,' Croatia’s Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said before Split pride earlier this month.

'People should have the freedom and right to be what they want. And no one should persecute, attack, beat and discriminate them just because of what they want to be.'

Gay couples living together were given equal rights in Croatia in 2003 and the government has pledged to extend more rights to same-sex couples in the future, although it is still unclear what that would mean.