Malta's first Pride March, organised by the Malta Gay Rights Movement, was held in Valletta yesterday, gathering together a few men and women, who walked under a rainbow of balloons down Republic Street.

The parade, with the theme Gay Rights, Human Rights, was staged to show the existence of gays in the community as a "substantial minority".

Movement coordinator Sandro Mangion said that, as citizens of Malta, gays expected the state to treat them equally. Discrimination still existed, he said. Many were afraid of the effects of the stigma surrounding homosexuality which, he said, could lead to job losses, harassment at the workplace and a lack of acceptance by friends and family, forcing them to live a heterosexual life.

Participants carried banners saying "Homophobia is a social disease" and "Attitudes are the real disability".

Statistics show that five to 10 per cent of any population is gay but under 50 persons, some only in a show of support, participated in the march with an anti-discriminatory message.

Education Minister Louis Galea, the Labour Party spokesman for social solidarity Marie Louise Coleiro and Alternattiva Demokratika representatives were among them and were lauded for their courage by Mr Mangion.

Moviment Graffitti said in a statement that sexual orientation should form part of the section on discriminatory treatment in the Employment and Industrial Relations Act. It appealed for the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation, covering employment, education and housing.