After Moscow, Riga? - Europe eyes Latvia ahead of gay parade

By Ben Nimmo May 30, 2007, 10:58 GMT

Riga - Only days after an attack on gay activists in Moscow drew international criticism, European attention has turned to Riga, where a pro-gay march is scheduled for June 3.

'This is really an issue for the whole European Union. Any violation of fundamental rights, in whatever country, should be an EU matter,' Spanish Member of the European Parliament Raul Romeva i Rueda told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Last year, Romeva was one of a group of pro-gay activists attacked with excrement by anti-gay protesters at a church service in Riga held in place of a planned Gay Pride parade, which had been banned by Riga council because of alleged threats to public order.

The attacks were condemned across Europe, drawing criticism from politicians and rights groups such as Amnesty International.

'The Latvian authorities failed to provide adequate protection. (Activists) were attacked ... without receiving proper protection from law enforcement officials,' Amnesty said in a statement.

The ban was criticized both internationally and in Latvia, where a court subsequently ruled that it had been illegal.

And in the wake of the abortive parade, representatives of London's Gay Pride organization travelled to Riga in March to sign an official twinning deal.

'Pride London will be sending a delegation to Riga for their Pride event this year to help and support their work,' a press release issued in conjunction with the ceremony stated.

After parliamentary elections in October, both the Latvian interior ministry and Riga city council have undergone changes of leadership. Their new heads have said that this year's parade will not be banned, and will receive adequate protection.

But up to 100 volunteers from Amnesty's British and Scandinavian groups are set to observe events on Sunday, spokesmen confirmed.

'What we want to emphasize is that people have the right to exercise their right to peaceful assembly. This is an act of solidarity with Latvia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transperson (LGBT) community,' said Amnesty UK representative Lydia Aroyo.

And according to Latvian group Mozaika, which is organizing this year's 'parade for equality,' 12 members of the Swedish, Danish and European parliaments and five representatives of the British and Swedish police have said that they will attend the event.

Anti-gay groups have already announced plans for a rally of their own in protest against 'aggressive homosexualist and warlike liberal attempts to force foreign and unacceptable values on our people,' a press release from fundamentalist Christian group No Pride said.

Pro-gay events 'destroy the traditional family, promote violence against children and cause a rise in crime levels,' it added.

But experts doubt that Sunday's parade will be met with the same level of violence as last year.

'The authorities obviously have more experience of dealing with crowds and demonstrations now, and public statements from police and politicians indicate that they've learned from their mistakes,' said political scientist Janis Ikstens.

Homosexuality was outlawed in Latvia throughout the Soviet period of 1940-91, and is still a taboo subject for many Latvians.

Although homosexual relations have been legalized across much of the former USSR, the Soviet claim that gays are either sick, perverted or paedophiles is still widely upheld in the region, and is supported by some politicians and church leaders.

On Sunday, anti-gay protesters attacked pro-gay activists in Moscow as they attempted to hand a petition to Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. The attacks were widely condemned internationally.