A Gay Pride march through the centre of the Yugoslav capital Belgrade degenerated into violence today when activists were attacked by counter-protesters.
Police fired several shots in the air to disperse the crowd of attackers who kicked and beat marchers while chanting "Death to Homosexuals!" and the nationalist rallying cry "Serbia!"
Supporters of several Belgrade soccer clubs who have a history of violence announced in advance that they would try to disrupt the march.
"It is obvious that we, as a community, have not matured enough for such an expression of our, so to speak, oddity...or sexual preferences," Belgrade police chief Mr Bosko Buha told the city's B-92 radio station.
The total number of pro- and anti-gay demonstrators amounted to several hundred.
Similar parades took place all over the world today, with a Gay Pride march through Dublin passing off without incident.