LETA news agency, 12 May 2009

Majority of City Council members Call for Ban on Gay and Lesbian March

Author not indicated

More than half of the members of the Rīga City Council – 34 in all – signed a letter today to the executive director of the city, Andris Grīnbergs, calling on him to repeal the permission that was given to Mozaīka, the association of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and their friends, to hold a parade in the Vērmaņdārzs Park on May 16.

The initiators of the letter were deputy mayor Almers Ludviks (First Party of Latvia), as well as Council members Aina Krūkle (First Party of Latvia) and Helmī Stalte (For the Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK), LETA was told by Ludviks’ press secretary, Kitija Grīnšteina.

“It will be interesting to see whether bureaucrats will continue to act as an executive branch while ignoring members of the Council even after signatures are collected? For the time being, bureaucrats do not see the threat against morality and security in the city, but members of the Council do,” said Ludviks.

“The decision taken by the commission is in violation not only of the normative acts that are listed in the letter, but also of the interests of people in Rīga which they have expressed in letters that have been sent against the Pride march and the organisation of a meeting in the city of Rīga. We demand that the commission meet again and repeal the agreement for the march that has been announced for May 16 for the march in the streets of Rīga and the meeting in the Vērmaņdārzs Park because of a real threat against public security and morality,” says the letter.

“The vote by Rīga bureaucrats on May 8, which was in favour of the Pride march, must be seen as incorrect, because it did not represent the interests of the people of Rīga – if only because members of the Council voted ‘no,’ while bureaucrats voted for the march,” said Ludviks. “Although it has been claimed that the decision was taken by the Rīga City Council, I want to emphasise again that the decision makers were against the march, while representatives of the executive branch on the commission voted in favour of it.”

Ludviks says that the vote was also absurd because traffic in the city’s streets will have to be closed during the march. “In other words, the Rīga City Council will pay police officers, put up barriers, disturb everyday procedures in the city, and all of that will be done to offer financial support for the Pride event at a time when there is a crisis and a catastrophic shortage of resources,” insisted the deputy mayor.

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.