Gay Pride marches on

May 16, 2009
Kate McIntosh

Marchers wanted to highlight the discrimination faced by the LGBT community in the Baltics

An estimated 600 participants from some 20 countries gathered in Riga's Vermane Park for the May 16 event, which was organized by gay rights groups in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Anti-gay protestors carrying bibles and signs reading "The more gays the less Latvians" and "Stop AIDS, go home." Protesters had gathered outside the park, shouting abuse at marchers throughout.

"All we are saying is that this homosexuality 's it's not right. God created woman and man to be in love. This is just wrong," one protester told The Baltic Times.

A woman wearing a crucifix also attempted to disrupt the march by lying on the road and praying.

However, the event passed peacefully without the violence that marred previous Pride events in Latvia.

Madle Saluveer of the Estonian Gay League said while she struggled to understand the level of hatred directed at LGBT people, she did not feel threatened by the protest action.

"It gives you such strength and a sense of belonging. It's hard to believe there is so much hate out there when there is so much love in here," said Saluveer, who was among 20 activists that traveled from Estonia for the event.

Participants carrying rainbow colored flags marched along Elizabetes Street before returning to the park where a series of "friendship" events were planned throughout the day.

Riga City Council's picket and parade commission revoked permission for the pride parade on May 14 - a decision which sparked condemnation from Amnesty International and human rights groups around the world.

As previously reported, the City Council Director Andris Grinbergs revoked permission for the event after receiving a letter from council members asking for the march to be banned on the basis it posed a threat to security.

Gay rights contested the decision and on May 15 the court of administration overturned the ban.

Gay rights activists successful argued that the ban was based on questions of morality andprejudice and therefore illegal.

Several protesters who attempted to disrupt proceedings by heckling activists were removed from the court.

Mozaika's Liga Klavina said lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT) in Latvia continued to face discrimination in almost every facet of their lives.

"We face discrimination everywhere. They [LGBT people] don't have any rights. I don't have any rights Why?" she said.

Debate surrounding the event clogged Internet chat sites and blogs following council's last minute back flip.

"The sad side of all this hassle is that no matter how modern Latvia pretends to be, there's still so much to do when it comes to the values of the democracy. There are so many people mixing homosexuality and pedophilia, not even mentioning those shouting that you can catch it like an infectious disease...," wrote one commentator in an online discussion forum.

Attempts to ban the march in previous years has also been unsuccessful as courts ruled the move constituted a violation of The European Convention on Human Rights and the Latvian Constitution, which allows for public assembly.

Latvia's alliance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and their friends Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League, and Estonian Gay Youth jointly organized this year's event for the first time.

Vermane Park was cordoned off in several places, and buses of Special Forces police officers were also at the scene.

There have been no reports of arrests.

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