It’s over! There were speeches, the counter-protesters made lots of noise and then we all got on our buses and left, safe and sound. That’s it for another year.
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It’s over! There were speeches, the counter-protesters made lots of noise and then we all got on our buses and left, safe and sound. That’s it for another year.
Add to social bookmarking sites:
Glad it went OK, well done REGA LGBT and Amnesty I colleagues.
Dennis H
FREEBIRD
I am Latvian and I have a few questions. These are gay rights not to be punished for being who they are. And most peoples in Latvia understand it. But the problem is why they have to go in streets and popularize homosexualism if Latvians are aganst it? Don’t we have any rights in our country? Wont forgot what they said in the Riga Peide 2008 “here are people from all over the world”. Why? Why do people from all over the world have to go here and make this march which people from Latvia don’t want to happen?
And what I can say here in Latvia situatin is getting only worse. After every pride Latvians ar getting just more and more angry and guys from “no pride” are getting more and more every year. Before these prides nobody cared homosexsuals in latvia and thei could live “safe and sound” but not now…
Well, I am Latvian too.
Here is what I can say about it.
Nobody goes in streets to “popularize” homosexualism, people are going in the streets to declare that they know who they are and are proud of being that way. And other people (lie me, for example) go in the streets to say that we are OK with gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons - we recognize them as normal people and want them to know they’re welcome in the society. It is not a walk to spread homosexualism(even if it were - homosexualism cannot be “spread”, it’s not an ilness, nor can it be “popularized” for nobody becomes gay for fashion), it is a walk to celebrate humanity and recognize all of us as equals.
It is not true that Latvians as a people don’t like homosexualism or are strongly against it. Most of the Latvians don’t even know what it is(e.g homosexualism is often mistaked for pedophilia). Then there are those who do know - and most of them know it’s OK.
And then there are radical national and religious people who I feel sorry for, and can’t help but disrespect.
These people aren’t used to thinking on their own and are glad that there is someone who tells them what is right, what to think, what to do and what to say. And in fact they are minority, but as they shout louder than others(who don’t shout at all), they are noticed more. As in a saying “an empty barrel can be heard from afar”, but they do not represent Latvian people. It’s like saying that radical muslim terrorists represent the Islam religion and muslims as such.
As for why there were so many people from other countries, I think I can speak for all that we wish there would come a day when nobody in Latvia would feel ashamed or endangered because of his/her sexuality. People from other countries are showing their support, they are coming to tell everyon ein Latvia that every sexuality is OK, that we are all equal, and they represent their countries as those that have recognized it. Hopefully every year there will be more and more Latvians in the march.
And it is blatant ingnorance to say that nobody cared about homosexuals and they could live safe here. It is not even close to truth and I cannot believe I am reading these words. Every person with a different sexual orientation has had to go through prejudices, harrasment and physical and emotional abuse all this time.
It is time we stopped discrimination and started the fight for human rights.
I’m Latvian too, and all I can say is that it’s because of comments like Toms that these events need to take place.