Demonstrations Rome Italy

In a triumphant coming-out party that the Vatican tried to stop, tens of thousands of gay men and lesbians marched through this ancient capital Saturday to demand an end to bias against homosexuals in predominantly Roman Catholic Italy.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday to protest efforts by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to make it easier to fire workers. They also denounced the assassination of a government advisor on labor reform. Union leaders claimed that at least 2 million people heeded their call for the rally in the Italian capital, but the number appeared to be far smaller. Rome's police headquarters put the count at more than 700,000.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday to protest efforts by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to make it easier to fire workers. They also denounced the assassination of a government advisor on labor reform. Union leaders claimed that at least 2 million people heeded their call for the rally in the Italian capital, but the number appeared to be far smaller. Rome's police headquarters put the count at more than 700,000.

In a triumphant coming-out party that the Vatican tried to stop, tens of thousands of gay men and lesbians marched through this ancient capital Saturday to demand an end to bias against homosexuals in predominantly Roman Catholic Italy.