While Pride festivals have gained greater widespread acceptance and support in many parts of the world, there remain countries and cities where GLBTI individuals take to the streets in the teeth of government opposition and social stigma. This month, OUTinPerth turns its attention to Eastern Europe and the Middle East to report on Pride festivals in the past few months that faced opposition and discrimination.
RUSSIA
Perhaps the most widely reported opposition to Pride has been in Russia, more specifically Moscow, where Mayor Luzhkov officially opposed the Pride human rights march held on May 27. This year’s formal opposition from city government was not new or unexpected. Mayor Luzhkov had denied Pride organisers a permit in 2006, and in February of this year, he said:
‘Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as Satanic. We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future.’
Despite the Mayor’s position, LGBTI groups petitioned and planned to march in Moscow’s Tverskaya Square. The result was a clash between over 120 gay activists and demonstrators from neo-Nazi and ultra-Orthodox groups.
The police blocked off the square early on. Twenty people from the GLBTI group and lesser numbers of the neo-Nazi and ultra-Orthodox demonstrators were arrested.
According to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), the gay activists were treated with excessive force by police before being put into a truck and forced to wait in the heat. When they were finally taken into the police station, they were subjected to further verbal abuse. The report quotes one witness’ account of being told, ‘No one needs lesbians, no one will ever get you out of here.’
Australian-born gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was also amongst the group of gay rights activists. He was punched and kicked in full view of journalists while he participated in an interview. He was then arrested by police.
In a statement made on his website after the protest, Thatchell said:
‘Two weekends ago, at Moscow Gay Pride, I witnessed first hand Russia ‘s retreat from democracy. I suffered the violent effects of government and police collusion with right-wing extremists.
‘The Moscow police and Russia ‘s elite anti-riot squad, the OMON, not only failed to protect the Gay Pride marchers against violent attack, they also failed to arrest the attackers. Although we were battered left, right and centre, the police arrested only a handful of the assailants – and most them were quickly released, often without charge.’
The HRW and ILGA report puts the opposition to Moscow Pride as indicative of a larger trend of human rights violations in the country. According to one lesbian who spoke to HRW and ILGA just after she was freed from jail,
‘We did what we wanted. We wanted to attract the world’s attention to the discrimination we face, and show that we weren’t going to be killed by the hatred of society. And we did that. Homosexual people are suffering violenceâ€â€and not just homosexual people, but all those in this society who are different. But we will show this society that violence and racism are not everything, that there is another way.’
LATVIA
Since its inception in 2005, Latvia’s Pride Mozaika has been marred by ongoing court attempts to stop the parade as well as Neo-Nazi protestors throwing eggs, food and paint bombs at participants.
Two years later it seems that things are changing slowly. On June 3 of this year over 800 Latvian LGBTI people and supporters out numbered protestors who gathered along the parade route. Organisers said that despite one small incident at the completion of the parade, they were extremely happy with the event.
‘A man and his 14-year old son threw some sort of fireworks at us; there were no other acts of violence. The man and his son were arrested,’ Mozaika Board Member, Linda Freimane told OiP
The successful parade came after the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, urged the then newly elected Mayor of Riga Janis Birks to ensure that LGBTI people were allowed to exercise the right to peaceful protest without fear of retribution.
Linda Freimane said that Mr Livingstone’s intervention in combination with support from other countries was vital to ensuring the success of Mozaika. ‘It is mostly due to external, international pressure that the political climate is slowly improving in Latvia. We are very grateful for all the support we get.’
POLAND
Poland is another Eastern European country whose Pride in recent years has stirred controversy. In 2005 the ultra conservative Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, placed his second ban in two years on the event saying he was ‘against propagating gay orientation’, a move that was vehemently opposed by European LGBTI activist groups.
Despite ongoing set backs the parade has grown in strength and numbers, following its introduction in Warsaw in 2001, when 300 protestors marched with one rainbow flag. In May this year over 5000 Polish LGBTI activists marched through the streets of Warsaw without any reports of violence. The ‘Equality Parade’ has been recognised as a great win for Polish LGBTI people, who have in the past been subjected to ongoing intimidation from highly conservative Catholic demonstrators.
One of the events organisers, Tomasz Backowsk, told OiP ‘We are proud that this year’s parade has been the largest ever in Poland. Our society has begun to learn what democracy and diversity really mean.’
ISRAEL
In the Middle East, police have arrested a man believed to have been planning to bomb Jerusalem’s Gay Pride. The man, believed to be an Ultra-Orthodox Jew, was questioned and detained after he was caught with concealing homemade explosives. This comes after another Orthodox Jew stabbed three demonstrators in the 2005 Parade.
Over 2500 people braved the streets of Jerusalem after over 7000 police were flown into the town to ensure the safety of LGBTI marchers participating in its 6th Gay Pride Parade.
Police made over 130 arrests prior to the event and 22 officers were injured, after strong denunciations of the event came from Muslim and Jewish leaders.
A spokesperson for the organising group Open House Support defended their right to protest in the face of the ongoing violence, saying in a statement ‘This is not a party. It’s more like a political statement of walking for the freedom of speech and the democracy of Israel.’
In nearby Tel Aviv, over 10,000 Israelis have danced through the streets of Tel Aviv, celebrating their annual Pride Parade. The parade held in June every year only attracted 20 anti-gay protestors and was heralded by police as a mostly peaceful event.
Both parades came after the Israeli Parliament considered a bill that would give local government authorities to stop parades or demonstration in their towns that they deemed inappropriate or ‘ which would hurt public order, public feelings or for religious reasons’
Prime Minister Ehud Obmert, who is the father of a well known openly out lesbian activist, has opposed the initiative. A spokesperson from his office said, ‘he does do not think that Jerusalem is the appropriate location for holding gay-pride parades due to the special sensitive nature of the city, although he believes that such matters should not be limited by law.’
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The Human Rights Watch and International Lesbian and Gay Association report was an important source for the Russian section of this article.
