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Gay pride marches in Europe marred by homophobiaPRAGUE (AFP) - Tens of thousands joined gay pride marches across Europe on Saturday but homophobics spoiled the party in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria where scores were arrested for disrupting events. Czech security forces were forced to intervene after right-wing extremists moved in on a parade in the country's second city Brno, leading to 15 arrests as tear gas was thrown, police said. Several dozen black-clad extremists tried to break up a planned two-hour march through the city centre by gays and lesbians. The right-wingers threw eggs and fireworks into the midst of the marchers as they gathered in a central city square, local media reported. Fifteen people were detained by police and two charged with breaching the peace, police spokeswoman Andrea Prochazkova old AFP. Around 200 police in riot gear gathered at the start of the march to protect some 500 participants. Following the initial clash, organisers decided to press on with the parade but over a shorter route than initially planned. The march came to an end when tear gas was thrown at the participants and some of the hundreds of onlookers. At least 20 people were affected with two people needing medical treatment and one city policeman taken to hospital, police said, adding that it was not clear who threw the tear gas. In Sofia, Bulgaria's first gay pride march was also marred by several attempts by extremists to disrupt it, resulting in scores of arrests. According to the interior ministry, some 60 extremists were detained by police after trying to storm the small group of participant which was escorted by a similar number of police as it passed along a central Sofia boulevard. Security concerns had already forced organisers and municipal authorities to change the route of the march twice and deploy a large number of police to prevent clashes. Nationalist Union leader Boyan Rasate, who urged people to stage an "open resistance" to the gay parade, was also detained, an AFP journalist at the scene reported. Marchers blew whistles along the way and wore t-shirts reading "I am not gay but my best friend is" and "It is not necessary to be gay to be here". "Bulgaria is in the EU now. People have to accept us like normal human beings. We are not criminals," 51-year-old German engineer Peter Moews, who lives in Sofia, told AFP. "Hostility comes from misunderstanding. Most people think that we are all feminine and wear women's dresses but this is not true," he added. In Germany, tens of thousands took part in the day including 95-year-old Rudolf Brazda, thought to be the last surviving person persecuted by the Nazis for his homosexuality. Brazda was condemned to six months in prison in 1934 in accordance with a law forbidding sex between men. He was arrested again in 1938 and finally deported to Buchenwald in 1941. "After the war I had a very happy life. We were no longer forced to hide as before when we were considered abnormal," he said. "But thank God, today we are free," he added. Meanwhile, in Paris tens of thousands more turned out for the annual event which took discrimination at school as its theme in France this year. "At school people used to throw stones at me and insult me," said Jasen, a 15-year-old school pupil, who took part in the march. Life at one time had been very difficult for him, he said, adding however that attitudes towards him had changed as his fellow students matured. Link to article Link to related articles Submitted by Harpy, Moderator (8879 posts) on June 30, 2008 - 11:10am. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
I Expect That Here in the States, not in the EU
most of europe is gay-friendly:)
Sadly, there are small, and mostly ostracised, anti-gay, right wing movements in all european countries, but there are only a select few countries, mainly in eastern europe, where this type of hatred and bigotry is able to find enough support to inflict the violence reported in these articles. I'm not too surprised to hear of trouble in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
Belarus, Russia and Poland also have very strong anti-gay, right wing movements, and there are generally violent altercations during gay parades in those countries.
However, most other countries in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe are very gay friendly, with Spain, Holland, Belgium and Norway having legalized same-sex marriage and adoption rights, and many, if not most of the other countries with some form of partnership-recognition. Last I heard, even the super catholic and lovely country of Ireland were going to pass some sort of partnership act! :D
That's true! There's a new
That's true! There's a new partnership bill going through the government at the moment, it's not the exact same as marraige between straight people but it's a start! And the gay pride parade through dublin (capital of ireland!) went really well this year, with no disruption! Although, someone phoned in a fake bomb alert to one of the biggest gay nightclubs on the main night of the pride week,and the whole place had to be evacuated for a while, but no one knows if it was a deliberate act to disrupt the pride celebrations or not. It definately didnt sour the mood though, everyone just continued the party on the street!!
Eastern Europe.
Don't forget that after the Soviet Union broke down, Eastern European countries were thrown into the cold water and had to learn how to swim. This process is still running. The people in these countries first have to learn how to handle things like freedom and democracy. You cannot expect them to accomplish in a few years what took our societies decades to accomplish.
Of course this is no excuse for bad behaviour, discrimination and violence against minorities. But these nations have to find a new identity for themselves, and, sadly, for some of the citizens of these nations the way to finding this new identity is exaggerated, misguided patriotism/nationalism. And of course there is a dirty sediment of idiots in every country.
But the biggest source of homophobia in Eastern Europe is the Orthodox Church. It's no miracle that nationalism and fundamentalism go hand in hand so well. They're just two sides of the same coin. But I'm sure this will change in the future. Look at Spain. It was very Catholic once, with the Catholic Church wielding a lot of political influence, just as it is in Poland today. But modern day Spain is a lot more secular, with the Church's influence decreasing day by day. I'm sure it will work out the same way in Eastern Europe, but the process takes time.
A Bulgarian's view on the matter
Being Bulgarian I cannot help but be a little offended by what you wrote. It's not true that there wasn't freedom or some sort of democracy in my country during the socialistic period. There were certain restrictions, but it really wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think that Bulgaria was actually better off than other socialistic countries in respect to freedom. And besides, the country was free and democratic before the socialistic reign, so... It's true that our government is still learning how to deal with things on the same level as Western European countries and it's true that they are doing a bad job of it. But still it cut me to read the comment about the lack of freedom and democracy here, it's not true.
Of course, there's no excuse for bad behaviour, discrimination and violence against minorities, but I can offer an explanation. It's pretty simple really-there is absolutely no publicity when it comes to LGBT related matters. The government doesn't really care, there is one organisation that tries to spread knowledge about the Bulgarian LGBT community, in schools and not only, but it's only one organisation with no political backup whatsoever. In reality the majority of the Bulgarian people simply haven't been taught that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals are a minority and have certain rights as such. Unless someone higher up does something about it soon, I'm afraid that it's going to remain that way. Having been to both Norway and Sweden I can definitely see the difference, they do so much for the local LGBT communities there... It sucks plain and simple that homophobia is so widespread here, but I try to hope that things might change for the better sometime in the future. I live here after all. And I really don't want to have cause to emmigrate to a more LGBT tolerant country, but if I must, I will. And, of course, it could have been worse. It can always be worse.
"Gabrielle, if I only had thirty seconds to live, this is how I'd want to live them - looking into your eyes." Xena
Offensive?
Hmm, I'm not sure what offended you about my comment, so I will try to clear it up a bit, although I think my inital post already is pretty clear.
I never said there's no freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe now, although there are still a lot of political problems, many of them caused by corruption. And as far as I can remember from history classes in school, Bulgaria was a rather progressive country (for the standards of those times) before the World Wars. But under Soviet rule there was no real freedom and democracy. How much freedom people in Warsaw Pact countries where allowed to enjoy was decided by the Soviet rulers in Moscow, not by the national governments. If people tried to push the envelope and overcome restrictions being put on them, they were reigned in with military force, as exemplified by the ´68 Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. Not very democratic in my eyes.
In the Soviets interpretation of communism, homosexuality was simply non-existent, a taboo that wasn't talked about. And the Orthodox Church has been campaigning against homosexuality ever since, preaching that it is a sin. The people in Warsaw Pact nations lived in this social and political climate for nearly half a century. You cannot expect them to shrug off decades of indoctrination overnight.
It took my country, Germany, also nearly 50 years before the government was willing to enact legislation which granted LGBT people rights and benefits they should have been enjoying since the Federal Republic was founded. And we still haven't reached full legal equality, although the different treatment of LGBTs under the law is against the Constitution. You mentioned the Scandinavian countries. Yes, they have a very good record when it comes to LGBT related issues. But it also took them some time to get there.
The intention of my comment was to offer an explanation why, on the average, the level of homophobia in Eastern European countries is higher than that in Western European countries. I'm very sure this will change in the future, the same way it changed here in the West. I just hope it won't take half a century to do so. I hope you guys will be faster than we were. :)
"Gabrielle, we are all searching for answers to so many questions, and I don't know where we will find them or when. But this doesn't matter, as long as we are searching for them together,...you..and me."
Thanks for the reply!
Wow, thanks for the reply and the explanation. I honestly didn't expect anything. I realise now that I overreacted a bit. It's just that I hate hearing stuff like that about my country. You're one very knowledgeable person, however, and everything you say is indeed the sad truth. It does provide a valid explanation for why things happened the way they did at our first Pride parade(and for the general state of things here too). Yep, it was the first ever. I don't know if there's a country where the first Pride parade didn't cause any controvesy whatsoever. I should go check. On the whole I'm just glad there weren't any casualties although I'm really sad that tolerance is not as strong as it should be here yet. But like you said, it takes time to overcome instilled beliefs and the media and the politicians aren't really helping in the matter. There are no public figures who are openly gay so the LGBT community here can look up to them. Being gay, bisexual or transsexual is mostly used as speculation or to attract interest by our famous artists or singers(not by all, of course), but usually no one takes it seriously. Most of the time the majority of people here see it for what it sadly, usually is, just a ploy to attract attention. It's almost as if it was an eccentricity of some kind, not something serious. If it's serious, then it's wrong. This means that you simply cannot be openly gay, bisexual or god forbid transsexual here if you don't want any trouble. Which is really sad. I hope we reach the level you're now at some day, but I doubt it would take us less than half a century somehow... Especially when it comes to the church's view on all this. I don't see same-sex marriages happening in my lifetime. Fate, however, tends to surprise us sometimes, so I hope that it surprises me pleasantly and it doesn't take us that long to overcome intolerance. There is, after all, a whole new generation of Bulgarians who are very tolerant and open-minded. My hopes lie with them. :)
"Gabrielle, if I only had thirty seconds to live, this is how I'd want to live them - looking into your eyes." Xena
Exactly.
As far as the older generations are concerned: I think they will have a hard time changing their opinions. Judging from my personal experience, it seems that the older people become, the harder it becomes for them to change their opinions, even if they know they are wrong. Exceptions proving the rule, as usual. The important question with them is: Will they allow themselves to be coerced, by certain groups, into an actively aggressive behaviour against LGBTs, or will they tolerate them, even if they think their "conduct" is "immoral"?
But it is the younger generations who will shape the face of Bulgarian society in the future. And as you said, they are obviously more open-minded. And they have access to an overhelming amount of information. Never underestimate the power of information and knowledge, and the insight and wisdom they can produce. But, of course, this only holds true if people are willing to educate themselves. As much as I can tell from the distance, young people in Bulgaria are willing to do so in the majority.
Good point with the Pride March. I don't know the facts (and now I feel like a bad lesbian;), but I cannot imagine there ever was a first Gay Pride March in any country that did not produce controversy.
The most important capital for people working in the entertainment industry is their popularity. So, naturally, they are interested in everything which gives them media coverage and increases their popularity. Just look at the articles and discussions about celebrities here on AE. I don't see any difference to what you described. That's just how the entertainment sector works. I wouldn't worry about this too much.
Never forget that your worst enemy is the church. Remember the protest against the baring of a Gay Pride March in Moscow last year and the counter protest by extremists? There were Orthodox priests standing by, blessing the extremists who violently lashed out against the protestors. Since the capture of Radovan Karadzic, the news media have been playing videos of him from the time of the Balkan Wars up and down. Did you realize there's a priest in the direct vincinity of Karadzic on nearly all of these videos? The only arguments against non-heteronormative sexuality and gender identity, which can not easily be voided by reason and the results of scientific research, are those arguments stemming from religious beliefs (since religion is unreasonable and irrational in itself). Never underestimate the power of the church to infuse propaganda into the heads of the people. Sadly, most people are still easy to scare once "almighty God" and God's assumed "will" comes into the picture. The situation for LGBTs in Western European countries became better because these countries became more secular over time. You people should really have a sharp eye out on what the church is doing.
Well...
You're right about older people having more difficulties in changing their beliefs. It seems that people become less flexible with time and it's something that generally cannot be avoided, but there are exceptions too, naturally. From my experience with the older generations here, I think, that most of them are critical and condemning towards the LGBT community(and would, of course, deny the existence of such a thing here), but not violent. The violent ones are usually those who are young or middle-aged and who are easily swayed by some of the extremistic parties' arguments on the matter. There is one political party(in the Parliament to top it all!)in particular who call themselves Attack and condemn everything that's different. It's human to fear or/and hate the unknown and/or different, but it's still worrying that they are in the Parliament if you ask me. However, their arguments seem to appeal to a small number of the Bulgarian population(they're a minority party if thay's how you say this in English). Other than that there generally aren't any public statements regarding homosexuality, bisexuality or transsexuality on behalf of the politicians. The few that we got recently were because of the Pride parade.
I don't underestimate the power of knowledge and information. I know it's great. The problem is, like I already said, that the powers that be simply don't invest in education about LGBT people. One does not discuss that even in schools. If it happens it's probably initiated by the teacher or one of the students. The topic is not part of the textbooks(well, it is mentioned for example when we study about Sappho, but it never is really discussed and properly explained), you have to educate yourself if you're interested. Another example of this is the fact that the chapter dealing with human sexuality in the Psychology textbooks for the 9th grade simply does not mention homosexuality, bisexuality or transsexuality. They do not exist apparently. Out of three or four textbooks that I looked at only one included a mention of other sexual orientations and it was only two lines long! So practically there is no one to tell young people that this is OK and they reach the conclusion that it's not. That's my explanation as to why there are so many young people who are so blatantly homophobic in my country. They just don't really know what they hate so much. They know that it's different and that our society condemns it and they want to be a part of that society, so they condemn it in turn.
You're not a bad lesbian. How could you have known it was our first Pride parade? :) I myself had to miss it, because I had an exam the next day and had to study, but I'm going next year. My sis already promised me to come along and act as bodyguard. :) Let's just hope it won't be necessary and there is a Pride parade in Sofia next year...
About the Church. You know, I don't agree with you that it's our worst enemy. Our worst enemy in my opinion is the lack of information and education. The Church is not that strong in Bulgaria, definitely not as strong as in Poland(I know they're catholics, but they're pretty famous for being very religious, so the analogy works for me). Bulgaria is a pretty secular country too. That's mostly due to the fact that under the socialistic period(guess we're back to that again :) )religion was forbidden and the general belief held by those with power was that God doesn't exist. After the fall of the regime this belief has not been discontinued and while most people wouldn't go as far as to say that God doesn't exist, they don't really care about the Church's opinions or religion that much either. This is especially true about the younger generations. Religion's losing its footing here too. That's why the Church is constantly trying to reestablish itself, introduce religion classes in schools so that children can be taught "the one true faith"(how I hate this expression!), but it hasn't had any luck so far. There are, of course, religious fanatics here too, but they're more of a minority. The majority is not very religious and think that the Church should not interfere with matters of the state. Furthermore, I don't think that the Church has had the opportunity to make a statement regarding the alternative sexual orientations(or if it has I've missed it),mostly because as I said there isn't any serious talk about it. Yet. I have no doubts that it would be opposed, I just don't think that it will hold as much significance as you think. What's really important is what politicians decide to think and do about it, but as my sis said they have bigger issues to deal with first, so it might take some time before they get to the LGBT community's rights as a legal minority.
Wow, never thought I'd have so much to say on any political topic. I surprised myself. Guess, I'm more interested in politics than I think. At least reagarding this issue.
Oh, and I love your avatar by the way. :)
Edit: I read some more about the Pride parade in Sofia today and it appears that the Bulgarian Orthodox Churh has indeed made a comment about it(three guesses as to what kind of comment). I've missed that, sorry.
---
"Gabrielle, if I only had thirty seconds to live, this is how I'd want to live them - looking into your eyes." Xena
woooo
plas, plas plas, I enjoied very much your discussion, I found it really interesting, sadly I don´t know very much about bulgaria, but thanks to both of you I learned something new.
I can only talk about Spain case, look at us, 33 years ago we were in a dictatorship, and now things have changed a lot here, well, there are some people that still miss Franco, but with time this will change too.
One from CZE right here
I live in the Czech Republic and right in Brno where our first gay pride happened.
I am really glad to see somebody already mentioned that these anti-gay actions are mostly prepared by (extremist) right-wing parties. The anti-gay march was banned by the government but it happened against the decision and now this right-wing party is considered to be prohibited. The reason why this anti-gay action is possible is due to the gaps in our law. There is problem that our law prohibits the existence of parties which propagate anti-democratic movements like fascism or which propagate the hatred between people because of race, nationality and so on. But these prohibited acts aren’t specifically defined by law. Then it can happen that the court of justice is trying to consider some acts as acts out of law but it is revealed that this instance isn’t allowed to solve this problem because it can be only solve by the constitutional amendment... and these amendments defining extremism haven’t been formulated because it is really difficult for politicans and political scientists and then the definition of extremism could be also blocked by the communist party which is afraid of prohibition. This gap in law is ofently mentioned nowadays and if you know how young the Czech republic is then you know we are still in progress. And due to the urgency of solving this problem with extremist movements and parties and their actions our politicans will be forced to solve it as soon as possible.
Our government is really gay-friendly. There are also a few of politicans who are openly gay but they don’t hold positions like minister or prime minister though, that’s sad thruth. Two or three (?) years ago our government allowed gay people to get married (it is defined as the registered partnership but you will receive the same status in law as married straight people recieve..well, without the right of adoption). If you compare our government with our neighbours we are right behind Germany the most gay-friendly country.
And about people and society? I think it is not so different from other countries. Here there are gay-friendly places and places where it is difficult to be gay. And just because the Czech Republic is really small country then it is natural that there there are less gay-friendly places than for example in the US. Brno is the second largest city as mentioned and it is quite paradise for gay people. I can do whatever with another girl and nobody finds it shocking or immoral. But when I go to the small town I came from then I feel like an exotic pet when I kiss a woman, thousand of eyes are focused on us:))) But in my opinion it is really similiar to other coutnries.
Oi, as I can see I wrote a lot of stuff, I hope you didn’t fall asleep while reading:) I just want to say that this article about anti-gay actions in the Czech Republic is a huge bubble which just promotes image of all post-communist countres, it promotes image that we live on trees and only eat bread with salt.. yeah, and I’m going to milk cows in the morning:))) If you watched Wanted then you could notice this film is actually huge bubble about post-communist countries, too. What terrible car did Angelina Jolie ride when she was chasing the train in the Czech Republic.. oh my, nobody has been driving such cars here for about 25 years.