Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians celebrated in the streets of Sao Paulo Sunday for one of the world's biggest gay pride parades.
Brazilians have little to celebrate at the moment. The country is dealing with a Zika outbreak, the president's impeachment, and pressure to postpone this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
But the parade was an opportunity for people to dance, dress up and enjoy themselves, even if the overall theme of the gathering - a demand for equal rights - is a serious one.
"For some people, this is a Carnival out of season -- to have fun, mess up and do some wrong things," one participant said. "In my case and for many others, we came for a cause -- asking for respect, to fight for our rights, for people to treat the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community better. We are human beings, just like any others."
Gay rights advocates in Brazil are pushing the congress to pass a law allowing Brazilians to legally identify themselves as the gender of their choice and not necessarily what is stated on their birth certificate.
