Gay Pride in Riga, Latvia 2007 or Friendship Days
Story, images and audio recordings by Paula Geraghty
https://www.indymedia.ie/article/83136#comment198694
Riga Pride took place Sunday June 3rd at midday
“We’re marching in the park, but we should be marching in the streets but we’re fenced in like animals, while the other animals are outside. We are here to support our brothers and sisters of Latvia with the atrocities they have to go through in a homophobic society.” Audio interview.
There are three audio recordings. The first is a collection of peoples thoughts and descriptions of the experience of the day, the second and third are an interview with Anna, a spokesperson from Mozaika, who kindly shared some time to tell some more of the story of Human Rights in Latvia.
Latvia has seen the recent transition from membership of one Union, the Soviet Union, to another, the EU. It’s a country slightly smaller than Ireland, with a population of 2,259,810 , with the fourth lowest birthrate in the world is undergoing a bubble economic boom. With people not reproducing and mass migration, mostly to Ireland, there is a chronic shortage of people to work and anecdotally, people complain of not being able to get a plumber or an electrician. Tourism has also developed, aided by the proliferation of economy flights to Riga, itself a beautiful city. But some of it isn’t what locals want Riga to be known for, drunken stag parties on the piss. As one of the audio interviews highlights, sexuality didn’t really figure in Soviet times, or rather sex didn’t. The only type of sexuality was that of the productive family with a mam and dad. If you didn’t fit in, you stayed in the closet.
Last year there was an attempt to hold a gay Pride march in Riga. It was banned by the state, and later found to be unconstitutional and contravened international human rights law. Not good for an economy receiving vast sums of monetary support from the EU. The government and population quickly discovered that EU membership wasn’t picking the bits you like (money, grants, financial aid) and ignoring human rights. Organisers of the event and international supporters found themselves unprotected by the Latvian police and subject to grotesque neo-Nazi protests which culminated in human excrement being thrown at them.
This year 2007, Mozaika the Latvian alliance of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals (LGBT) and their friends organized a “March for Equality”. This was not held on the streets but in a park, completely sealed off by a ring of police both inside and outside the park with two significant checkpoints which were intermittently sealed off. There were hundreds of kitted riot police in tow, mostly in the plethora of police buses chilling out, dozing and generally looking very bored. One commentator noted the same number of police were on duty when Bush went to visit Latvia.
As a result of the intimidation and violence last year there was a significant international presence in Riga for the 2007 Pride. Amnesty International had over 70 people; the London Gay Pride committee had sent a delegation of support. There were representatives from ILGA (EU and World International Lesbian and Gay Association), Swedish MEP a representative of the Swedish armed forces. Many who attended came to lend political and moral support to some incredibly brave people.
This year the homophobes were far less prominent. A homophobic concert was organized on the other side of town and promised an attendance of 50,000. It never surpassed a thousand. Good news for human rights and the organizers of Latvian Pride, highlighting a sea change in the confidence for the homophobic lobby to claim that they represent public opinion. However, events around the park indicated the level of harassment and intimidation. Groups of what can only be described as bigots hung around the checkpoints into the park, some wearing t-shirts shown in a photograph, verbally abusing those going in while curious onlookers mingled in. As most of it was in Latvian, I was spared the full comprehension of what was being said, while in the audio account of the day, one man translates some of the verbiage. “Animal” and “Democratic” were the only two discernable words indicating what protestors thought of a) those going into the park and b) that their (the bigot’s) rights were being taken away. When crowds began to swell at the entry points to the park the police shut them down, hardly an invite to someone who’s lacking a little confidence to go out and proud. Many people couldn’t get into the park, as the police could decide if someone didn’t look right they could refuse entry, while stewards from Mosaika would gently argue for admittance for some. When some speeches had started, a callout went out from the stage for Mosaika stewards to get to the checkpoints, as some international speakers had been refused entry by the police.
The March for Equality was poignant. It didn’t take place on the street, but in a park, meandering around the paved walkways, designed for innocuous leisure. The March for Equality was penned in, by a line of police inside the fence, a fence, a line of more police and a long line of protestors and bystanders shouting abuse, gesticulating with their arms and torsos, and making animal sounds. Inside was a far more joyous event, rainbow pride flags festooned participants, while there were banners from around the Baltic, the international presence gave a strength to individuals and generated deeper bonds of solidarity and hope. Mexican waves, cheers, chants and songs, echoing the civil rights movement of the United States, made the words of “We Shall Overcome” seem a not too distant possibility
International solidarity was further demonstrated by the array of speakers including a Swedish MEP, representatives from Scandinavian human rights groups, including Amnesty International, members of London Pride Committee and the list go on. The end of the event was surreal as people started changing their clothes en masse, removing colourful attire and putting on ‘civvies’. This was a security precaution, to avoid the possibility of marking oneself out from the crowd when people re-integrated. As the march left the park, to go on the buses which were to shuttle participants away to an undisclosed location, protestors threw firecrackers, causing mild chaos. No one knew if it was a weapon being discharged and the possibility for something bad to happen, was never far from the back of one’s mind. There were approximately two arrests and they were taken away, although the police officer did let the arrestee, speak at leisure to the camera crew just before he was taken away in a van.
The buses were overcrowded had a loud police escort and were meant to bring people to safety. They dropped everyone off at the back of the bus depot, a few hundred metres away, and everyone drifted of in small groups to blend back in.
A selection of links from some groups and events mentioned in the text:
List of events for Riga Pride and Friendship Day:
http://www.mozaika.lv/index.php?part=10&part2=33&us=174...ng=en
For those under 26 and would like support or more information in Ireland: http://www.belongto.org/
For details of an interview with Zappone& Gilligan: the transcript
http://www.gcn.ie/content/templates/community.aspx?arti...eid=7
A personal account of this years Riga Pride:
http://blog.amnesty.org/rigapride/
More information about ILGA-Europe at www.ilga-europe.org
