LETA news agency, 13 May 2009

Dimitere Calls on Mothers to Protest Gay and Lesbian March in Vērmaņdārzs Park

Author not indicated

Līga Dimitere has called upon mothers in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to protest the march in the Vērmaņdārzs Park which is being organised on May 16 by Mozaīka, the organisation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered persons and their friends.

“Mothers must rescue the souls of their children from sodomites who wish to use ‘Baltic Pride’ to celebrate the ‘victory day’ of their own pride. Leaders in my country are permitting this, and they have refused to protect children from this evil,” Dimitere writes in a letter distributed to the mass media.

“When one of the twin towers burned in New York, a woman’s hand with a snow-white handkerchief sparkled through the thick cloud of smoke, near the top of the collapsing building. This wave was full of hope, and the world will always remember it. White is the colour of purity, hope and light. Let tie brilliantly white scarves on our heads and go out into the streets,” says Dimitere.

Dimitere is calling for people to gather between 10:00 and 11:00 AM on May 16 at the Cathedral of the Birth of Christ at Brīvības Boulevard 23, wearing white scarves and then proceeding to the gates of the Vērmaņdārzs park.

According to the LETA archive, Dimitere has actively protested against minority marches for several years now and has even been involved in physical conflicts.

LETA reported in the past that the Rīga City Council’s Commission on Meetings, Marches and demonstrations decided on May 8 to allow Mozaīka to organise the march in Vērmaņdārzs Park. A compromise decision was to allow participants to march out of the park onto Elizabetes and then Tērbatas Streets before returning to Vērmaņdārzs. The event will take place from noon until 4:00 PM, while the march might start at 1:00 PM.

Representatives of Mozaīka did not agree to the first offer from executive director Andris Grīnbergs – to organise the march on the 11^th November Shoreline, as was the case last year. Representatives of the local government and the police, for their part, did not agree to a longer march in the streets.

In taking the decision, commission members differed, with five members voting in favour and two against.

As has been reported, Friendship Days events will be held in Rīga this weekend, from May 15 to May 17, LETA was told by Mozaīka representatives. The march in Vērmaņdārzs Park is planned for May 16.