Thousands gather for Seoul queer festival

Thousands of people gathered in central Seoul on Saturday for an annual LGBTQ pride parade, ​while a conservative Christian group held a ‌nearby counter-rally, organisers and police said.

The Seoul Queer Culture Festival has long drawn both supporters of LGBTQ rights and ​vocal opposition from conservative religious groups in South ​Korea, where same-sex marriage is not legally recognised ⁠and efforts to pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination law ​have repeatedly stalled.

The festival's organising committee set up ​a stage and around 70 booths from 11 a.m. (0200 GMT) in central Seoul, with the main festival beginning in the afternoon.

The ​parade, centrepiece of the event, was scheduled to ​start at 4 p.m. and proceed for about 3 km (1.9 ‌miles), ⁠according to organisers and police.

Organisers had told police they expected 50,000 people to attend, Yonhap news agency reported.

A conservative Christian group held a counter-rally from early ​afternoon, about 700 ​metres (800 yards) ⁠from the pride festival venue. The group said it expected a turnout of ​30,000 people and also planned to ​march.

There have ⁠been no clashes between the two gatherings in previous years.

As of 2 p.m., around 15,000 people had ⁠gathered ​in the area for the rival ​events, according to real-time urban population data provided by the Seoul ​city administration.

-Reuters