LATVIA: Riga hosts the largest gay pride celebration in the Baltics, with several hundred activists braving the rain to march through the Latvian capital in supports of gay and lesbian rights, amid a heavy police presence

Record ID: 277681

  • Title: LATVIA: Riga hosts the largest gay pride celebration in the Baltics, with several hundred activists braving the rain to march through the Latvian capital in supports of gay and lesbian rights, amid a heavy police presence
  • Date: 4th June 2012
  • Summary: RIGA, LATVIA (JUNE 2, 2012) (REUTERS) PARADE MARCHING WOMAN CARRYING FLAG IN COLOURS OF RAINBOW PARADE PARTICIPANTS CARRYING FLAG IN RAINBOW COLOURS COUPLE WAVING FLAG WITH JOINED HANDS PEOPLE DURING PARADE MOVING TO THE RHYTHMS OF MUSIC AND WAVING FLAGS OF THE USA (SOUNDBITE) (Latvian) BALTIC PRIDE PARTICIPANT, EVITA GOSA, SAYING: "There is no doubt, it will take s
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2012 13:00
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  • Location: Latvia
  • Country: Latvia
  • Topics: Entertainment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA66K2BAAXU9T3SB8PK9YO1TSKF
  • Story Text: Several hundred activists from the Baltic states and neighbouring countries braved rain and hail to participate in an annual parade in support of gay and lesbian rights in Riga on Saturday (June 2).
    For the first time the rally was sanctioned by the city council to take place in a commercial district in downtown Riga, Latvia's capital, amid a heavy police presence. According to the organizers, about 650 people took part in the pride parade, among them the US ambassadors in Latvia in Estonia.
    Unlike in recent years the parade was met by only a small protest. Only a dozen protesters gathered, waving mocking placards and heckling the parade participants. According to the police, one person was detained for throwing an egg in the direction of parade.
    Previous gay pride parades in the Baltics have been marred by violence on the part of protesters.
    Latvian lesbian couple Evita Gosa and Liga Klavina were marching right up the front of the parade. They say that society has become more tolerant, but homosexual couples still feel legally unprotected.
    "I think it is totally unacceptable [hostility towards them] - we do not use free medical care, we pay taxes, we do not live on benefits, we are not unemployed, yet we are simply ignored. Why is it so?", Evita Gosa told Reuters.
    A year ago Evita Gosa was one of the authors of a draft law that would provide equal chance for homosexual couples to register their relations, thus acquiring legal protection. It would allow couples to arrange hereditary rights, be present in hospital with a partner if necessary, decide about treatment methods in case of a serious diseases, and it would also decide on responsibility and rights of couples for children they have raise together.
    However, many politicians have not been enthusiastic about this. They claim the paragraph in the country's constitution which states that marriage is a union between man and woman cannot be altered.
    But some ministers, like Welfare Minister Ilze Vinkele, think such an attitude is outdated.
    "Well with that approach [the curbing of rights for gays and lesbians on the basis that it does not comply with the traditional family] we would still be living in society where women's right to vote was a distant dream," said Vinkele.
    "It cannot be an argument. The role of the politicians and ombudsman is to educate the society."
    Vinkele is the only minister to have championed a bill protecting unregistered cohabitation both for heterosexual and same sex couples.
    Like other former Soviet republics, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have largely proven to be intolerant toward gays and lesbians despite having joined the European Union in 2004.
    Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe told Reuters in an interview, that the situation regarding gay rights in Europe is improving.
    "There is a lot of progress in mostly so called Western European countries," said Jagland.
    "But there are also, as I said, some concerns in quite many countries where we have seen legislation that go in wrong direction, there have been violence during gay pride parades in some countries, there is a lot of prejudices and discriminations against these people. But all in all I would say that Europe is moving quite fast forward and we are working with countries that still have a long way to go."
    Meanwhile Evita and her partner Liga will set in motion their attempt to legalize their partnership as early as this year: they will address the Registry Office to register their marriage. Most likely their request will be declined, meaning they will appeal in court and take it even further if necessary.
    "There is no doubt, it will take several years, as it is quite clear that in Latvia we cannot hope for a positive outcome. Then we shall respectively address the [European] Human Rights court," says Evita Gosa.
    Their prospects in the European Human Rights Court might be better. There already has been one precedent - a verdict against Austria in 2010, where the European Human Rights Court pointed out that in accordance with the European Human Rights Convention, same sex couples are regarded as a family.
    LGBTI
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