Last week's events are the culmination of an aggressively homophobic campaign sustained throughout the past year by numerous politicians, religious leaders, and media organisations. The campaign began several weeks before Latvia's first Gay Pride March last year with irresponsible statements by several elected officials identifying the March as unacceptable in a state "based on Christian values." Last December, after several weeks of inflammatory homophobic rhetoric, often verging on hate speech, articulated by elected officials on the floor of parliament as well as in the media, Latvia's parliament passed an amendment to the Latvian constitution in effect banning same-sex marriage. This June, after weeks of similarly irresponsible and incendiary statements, parliament violated the EU Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC by rejecting an amendment to include sexual orientation in the list of explicitly prohibited grounds for discrimination in the Labour Law.

On July 7, Mozaīka, the Latvian alliance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their friends, submitted an application to the Riga City Council to organise a Gay Pride March in the center of Riga. In the ensuing weeks several elected officials from the City Council and the government – most prominently the Minister of the Interior – called for the March not to be permitted, arguing that the Latvian state might not have the capacity to ensure public safety and order if the March were permitted, due to alleged threats of violence received from extremist organisations. The government never revealed the nature of these threats to the public, nor did it announce any actions to combat these threats.

On July 19 the Riga city council rejected the application for the Pride March on the grounds of classified information about security threats. This decision was upheld on July 21 by the district administrative court.

On Saturday, July 22, instead of the banned march, Mozaika organised several legally sanctioned activities: a church service, a press conference, and a gathering in a hotel conference room. All of these activities were disrupted by verbal and physical assaults from large crowds of hostile protestors, representing several nationalist extremist and religious groups, who appeared to be well-organised and well-financed. In some cases the response of the security forces was inadequate, raising doubts about whether the orders given to the police had been influenced by the government's clearly demonstrated lack of political will to guarantee the right to freedom of assembly for the March's organisers.

This chain of events raises serious questions about the state of democracy in Latvia. As a member state of the European Union, Latvia has affirmed its commitment to a set of democratic and liberal values that are the very foundation of the European Union. EU membership brings with it obligations to protect democratic freedoms, including the freedoms of assembly and expression; to combat political extremism; and to promote tolerance and combat racism, xenophobia and homophobia. These obligations are articulated in the Treaty of the European Union, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination. The events described above demonstrate the government's failure to meet these obligations, and call into question the commitment of the Latvian state and political leadership to uphold these core European values.

These events are of grave concern not only to LGBT people; they are a wake-up call to all who wish to see Latvia as a democratic and stable country. Today, the forces of extremism threaten the democratic rights and safety of LGBT people. Tomorrow, they may turn against any other person and group of different colour, race, religion or belief. Last week Latvia's LGBT community wanted to protest against the discrimination, physical and psychological violence and intimidation directed against us. We wanted to demand equal rights, respect and legal protection. We were denied that possibility. Tomorrow, this possibility could be denied to anyone else.

We ask the Finnish Presidency of the EU to call on the government of Latvia to take the strongest possible measures to:

• ensure that the fundamental democratic rights of all residents of Latvia are guaranteed, regardless of race, ethnicity, religious belief, political views, or sexual orientation;
• eradicate homophobic intolerance and prejudice in Latvia , as is demanded by the European Parliament Resolution on Homophobia in Europe; and
• address the threats posed by extremist groups in Latvia .

We believe that the active involvement of EU institutions and other member states is essential to assist the Latvian government and society in achieving these goals. We are forwarding copies of this letter to the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the embassies of other EU member states in Latvia.

Sincerely,

Gaston Lacombe

Chair of the board

Mozaika,

Alliance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and their friends

23 July 2006