RIGA - The Baltic Pride Parade has gone ahead amid angry protests and heavy police presence, despite a last minute attempt by the council to ban the march.
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 carried bibles and signs reading "The more gays the less Latvians" and "Stop AIDS, go home."
"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.
Protest organizers, believed to be supporters of the "New Generation" sect, are likely to face administrative action after it was revealed the public rally had not been authorized by Riga City Council.
Protesters had gathered outside the park to shout abuse at marchers, but were blocked from entering the park by police barricades.
The event passed peacefully without the violence that marred previous Pride events in Latvia.
Madle Saluveer of the Estonian Gay League said she struggled to understand the level of hatred directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) people, but that 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 held throughout the day.
The Riga City Council's picket and parade commission revoked permission for the pride parade on May 14 's a decision that sparked condemnation from Amnesty International and human rights groups around the world.
As previously reported, the City Council Director Andris Grinbergs withdrew 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 groups contested the decision and on May 15 the court of administration overturned the ban.
The activists successfully argued that the ban was based on questions of morality and prejudice and therefore illegal.
In a show of solidarity, gay rights activists from around the world 's including Australia, the U.S. and Israel 's also attended the Riga event.
Speaking to TBT following the event, Amnesty International youth group organizer for Latvia Kaspars Zalitis said Baltic gay rights groups had been buoyed by the show of international support.
"We think it [the Pride march] was quite a success and are looking forward to future activities. We're trying to see all the positives and of course we're happy for the friends that joined us [from] all over the world. We are really happy to have this solidarity and just to know that we are not alone," said Zalitis.
Mozaika's Liga Klavina said 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 had clogged Internet chat sites and blogs following the 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 had 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 at the scene.
Police detained two protesters at the event for minor offenses.
