Organisers Friday postponed the French capital’s weekend Pride March after police ordered them to change the date to avoid overwhelming response services already under pressure due to extreme heat.
“The march has been postponed,” said Anouk Veyret, co-president of the Inter-LGBT association.
“We’re thinking of holding it in September, but the whole team needs to meet to see how we can bounce back.”
Paris police had said they would ban the event for LGBTQ rights on Saturday afternoon if organisers did not comply.
They also ordered that a series of concerts at a Paris racetrack from Friday to Sunday and a track and field meet scheduled for Sunday be held at a later date.
“Despite adjustments made by the organisers and their efforts to increase their internal first-aid response, several hundred thousand people going to these events will create a high risk of excessive strain on a healthcare system already stretched to its limits,” the police said.
The Pride March in the French city of Lyon, likewise to be celebrated on Saturday, was also cancelled on Friday.
“The weather conditions and the week of heatwave preceding it have not permitted us to ensure the proper organisation of the event,” organisers of that event said.
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