PM Backs Albania’s First Gay Parade
27/03/2012
Submitted by
ILGA-Europe
Original article: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/a.../pm-backs-albania-s-first-gay-parade
Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Monday backed Albania’s first gay parade after one of his deputy ministers suggested that activists should be beaten with batons.
“Albania is a free country, and nobody should think that we are going to restrict rallies,” Berisha said during a meeting with his Democratic Party MPs. “Tirana is a tolerant city, and we are a country where freedoms are guaranteed,” he added.
Gay rights activists have announced that they will hold a rally in Tirana on May 17 to defend and advance the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The march in the capital is being billed by the media as the country’s first-ever gay pride parade and has already provoked the ire of conservatives and religious communities.
Deputy minister of defense Ekrem Spahiu, who heads a small royalist party, called for the activists to beaten.
“My only commentary on this gay parade is that they should be beaten with truncheons,” Spahiu told the daily Gazeta Shqiptare on March 23.
The comment provoked strong reactions from LGBT rights organisations which called for Spahiu’s dismissal. The country’s main religious groups, the Muslim Community and the Catholic Church, also condemned the rally, arguing that it would destroy the moral fabric of society.
Ombudsman Igli Totozani called on Spahia to apologise while reminding him that inciting violence and hatred is a criminal offense under Albanian law.
“Such declarations have nothing in common with the principles of tolerance and diversity, traditional values of Albanian society,” Totozani added.
In February 2010 Albania’s parliament s approved a law which forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Monday backed Albania’s first gay parade after one of his deputy ministers suggested that activists should be beaten with batons.
“Albania is a free country, and nobody should think that we are going to restrict rallies,” Berisha said during a meeting with his Democratic Party MPs. “Tirana is a tolerant city, and we are a country where freedoms are guaranteed,” he added.
Gay rights activists have announced that they will hold a rally in Tirana on May 17 to defend and advance the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The march in the capital is being billed by the media as the country’s first-ever gay pride parade and has already provoked the ire of conservatives and religious communities.
Deputy minister of defense Ekrem Spahiu, who heads a small royalist party, called for the activists to beaten.
“My only commentary on this gay parade is that they should be beaten with truncheons,” Spahiu told the daily Gazeta Shqiptare on March 23.
The comment provoked strong reactions from LGBT rights organisations which called for Spahiu’s dismissal. The country’s main religious groups, the Muslim Community and the Catholic Church, also condemned the rally, arguing that it would destroy the moral fabric of society.
Ombudsman Igli Totozani called on Spahia to apologise while reminding him that inciting violence and hatred is a criminal offense under Albanian law.
“Such declarations have nothing in common with the principles of tolerance and diversity, traditional values of Albanian society,” Totozani added.
In February 2010 Albania’s parliament s approved a law which forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
