RIGA - The Riga City Council has given the go ahead for an annual gay pride march on May 16, despite moves to ban the event by right-wing conservative groups.
The committee responsible for rallies, marches and demonstrations recently authorized the Baltic Pride event, which is being organized by Latvia's gay advocacy group Mozaika 's an alliance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexual (LGBT) people.
The three day program centers on political discussions, cultural events, a social program and the march for equality.
Parade participants will now be permitted to exit Vermane Park and proceed down Elizabetes Street to Terbatas Street before returning to Vermane Park.
Last month the European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights sent a letter to the Chairman of the Riga City Council, Janis Birks, urging him not to ban the Baltic Pride parade.
The Coalition of Christian congregations in Riga had called on city authorities to ban the march.
In the letter sent to Birks Euro-MPs said a ban on the march constituted an infringement of freedom of assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
"[The] positive obligation of a State to secure genuine and effective respect for freedom of association and assembly is of particular importance to those with unpopular views or belonging to minorities, because they are more vulnerable to victimization," states the letter to the chairman.
"European Parliament takes the view that discriminatory comments against homosexuals by religious, social and political leaders fuel hatred and violence, and calls on the relevant governing bodies to condemn them," the letter said.
This year gay rights activists in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania collaborated for the first time to organize the joint Baltic Pride event in a bid to increase solidarity and highlight issues surrounding LGBT people throughout the Baltics.
Previous gay pride events have been marred by protests.
The inaugural 2005 event sparked outrage in Latvia and only went ahead after a court overturned a council ban on the event.
Police were forced to form a barrier around marchers to protect them after hundreds of protesters attempted to disrupt the march.
Linda Freimane, board chairwoman of Mozaika, said the event was part of a wider struggle for human rights and equal treatment, which continues to evade LGBT people in the Baltic States. The Baltic countries have become notorious for their anti-gay sentiments and less than progressive attitudes on the issue. Prejudice against LGBT people remains a systemic problem, often perpetuated by those at the highest political levels.
This year the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) launched court proceedings against alleged discriminatory actions by the former Vilnius municipality administration.
The group is also fighting moves to relegate a planned Gay Pride march in Vilnius city center to a more remote location.
"The situation in the three countries differs, but what we have in common is the desire to create an environment in which life and work are fine for everyone, not just for those who conform to some kind of narrowly defined norms," said Freimane.
Baltic Pride opens on May 15 with a press conference and a political discussion, "The Importance of Social Inclusion in Times of Crisis" as part of a series of Friendship Days.
Several senior Latvian politicians have indicated that they will attend this year's event.
International guests include Swedish Minister for Integration and Equality Nyamko Sabuni, representative of the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs Christian Veske and Marija Ausrine Pavilioniene, a former Lithuanian MP and candidate for the European Parliament.
The 2009 Baltic Pride event will be held from May 15 to May 17. The march will take place on May 16 at 1 p.m.
Future Baltic Pride events are planned in Vilnius in 2010 and in Tartu in 2011.
