GREECE: Athens Gay Pride revellers say it is up with 'gay dawn' and down with the far-right Golden Dawn party as they parade their message, 'Love me, it's free' all the way to the parliament

Record ID: 277676

  • Title: GREECE: Athens Gay Pride revellers say it is up with 'gay dawn' and down with the far-right Golden Dawn party as they parade their message, 'Love me, it's free' all the way to the parliament
  • Date: 10th June 2012
  • Summary: PEOPLE APPLAUDING MORE OF APPLAUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAX IMM FROM MANNER MINNE, SAYING "We sing about people who, yes, people who drift apart or fall apart because of financial troubles, because of other problems, and all that sort of thing. But we don't want that to happen to us, we want to stick together. And yes, it's quite appropriate for the relationship between
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD2BLTZKO6NF02N6XRF5QJX2KD
  • Story Text: With one week to go before crucial elections in Greece the gay pride parade kicked off in Athens on Saturday (June 9) preaching love and respect through hard economic times.
    Organisers say 12,000 people joined the colourful parade that meandered through the streets of Athens more used to violent clashes in the last five years of recession and political turmoil than loving embraces, music and wild apparel.
    Before the parade, 30 choir singers from Berlin, the Manner Minne, opened Gay Pride Athens with a song about love.
    One of the singers, Max Imm, originally from Australia, says they sing about love, Bizet's 'Love is a rebellious bird' from his opera Carmen, not just because it is about love but also because they highlight the importance for Germans and Greeks to bury their differences.
    The strict bailout conditions have created animosity amongst many Greeks who blame Berlin for the harsh reforms.
    "We sing about people who, yes, people who drift apart or fall apart because of financial troubles, because of other problems, and all that sort of thing. But we don't want that to happen to us, we want to stick together. And yes, it's quite appropriate for the relationship between Germany and Greece, and Berlin and Athens. We just want to stick together," said Max Imm.
    Because of the austerity measures, the 2012 theme is 'Love me, it's free'.
    There is also a particular concern amongst the Greek gay and Lesbian community in the rise of the far right party, Golden Dawn, which won enough votes at the last May election to get 21 members in the parliament.
    Elections next week could also determine whether or not the country stays in the euro zone.
    "It's 'Love me for free' and 'love me' it's about accepting gay people and 'it's for free' because of the crisis and it doesn't cost anything, actually, to accept gay people and to get them in a society with same rights," says Joey Galanos, from Samos
    "I think it is up with gay dawn and especially because we have an ancient history of homosexuality. The word lesbian comes from the island of Lesbos. We had homosexuality in the ancient times and it's ironic that we still have homophobia in Greece," said Sonia Kouleti, a film maker.
    The organisers say gay pride in Greece, in its eighth year, is the biggest of its kind in South East Europe.
    LGBTI
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