Latvian Extremists Demand Cancellation Of Gay Pride
Posted by Gay News Desk at 10:32 AM. Filed under: Gay News
(Riga) Members of a broad spectrum of groups on the far right in Latvia staged a noisy demonstration in front of the Parliament on Wednesday demanding that lawmakers ban a gay pride parade scheduled for June 3.
The groups included skinheads, extreme nationalists, neo-Nazis and churchgoers.
More than 100 protestors shouted homophobic slogans and handed out T-shirts to passersby bearing anti-gay messages.
It is the latest in ongoing battles between liberals and conservatives in Latvia.
Last year the capital city of Riga refused to grant a parade permit citing security reasons following a recommendation from Latvian Interior Minister Dzintars Jaundzeikars.
Pride organizers organized a service at a local church instead of holding a parade. As they left the church dozens were attacked by an angry mob.
They were pelted with bags of excrement and verbal abuse as police stood by watching.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga denounced the violence and said that it was unacceptable for the Riga City Council to refuse the parade permit.
In 2005 gays went to court and got an injunction after the city also refused a parade license. The march was marked by violence and a number of protestors were arrested.
The issue of LGBT civil rights also led to a showdown between Vike-Freiberga and Parliament last year.
A labor law passed in 2004 as a condition of European Union membership and as required by the EU contained protections for gays was never implemented. In 2006 Parliament revised it stripped out the LGBT protections and sent it to the president for her signature.
Vike-Freiberga vetoed the measure returning it to Parliament with a terse message that she would sign it only when the protections were restored.
After a heated battle in Parliament the clause was reinstated and the bill was signed into law.
Source: 365gay.com