Baltic Pride 2009: important step forward for LGBT community in the Baltic countries
ILGA-Europe is pleased with the outcome of the Baltic Pride March which took place on 16 May 2009 in Riga.
The March was initially allowed by the City Council, banned following political pressure by some City Council members, and the ban was successfully challenged in the court day before the March.
A few hundreds people from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other countries peacefully and undisturbed marched in the centre of Riga and hosted a manifestation at Vermanes Parks. The manifestation was addressed by the organisers of the Baltic Pride and representatives of various organisations, including ILGA-Europe.
ILGA-Europe wants to congratulate the organisers of the Baltic Pride: Estonian Gay Youth Organisation; Latvian Alliance of LGBT People and Their Friends – Mozaika; Tolerant Youth Association (Lithuania) and Lithuanian Gay League, for their successful cooperation and this event.
ILGA-Europe also congratulates and expresses its satisfaction with the work of the Latvian police which ensured adequate protections for and security of the participants of the Baltic Pride March.
However, ILGA-Europe is very concerned with the expressed extreme hateful homophobic sentiments during the Baltic Pride March. ILGA-Europe calls upon Latvian government and parliament to initiate an amendment to the country’s Criminal Law penalising incitement to hatred on the basis of nationality and race to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the list of grounds. While we realise legal sanctions against expressions of extreme hatred is not the only solution, ILGA-Europe believes this is an important signal to the wider public that such expressions are not condoned by the state and one of the tools to tackle hatred.
Martin K.I. Christensen, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said:
“We are delighted that the Baltic Pride March took place peacefully and with no incidents. This is the first time the participants of a Pride event in Riga were able to leave the venue not by police buses but by foot and no one was harassed or attacked.
We also welcome a statement by Janis Birks, Mayor of Riga, just a day prior the Pride March that people in Riga need to learn to live together despite their differences.
However, seeing posters calling for LGBT people to be exterminated in gas chambers is a chilling reminder of the extent to which homophobia and hatred exist in Latvia and many other countries in Europe.
We wish the organisers of the Baltic Pride in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania best luck in their growth and development and look forward to the next Baltic Pride event scheduled for Vilnius in 2010.”
