Baltic Pride is an annual LGBT+ pride parade rotating in turn between the capitals of the Baltic states; Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. It is held in support of raising issues of tolerance and the rights of the LGBT community and is supported by ILGA-Europe. Since 2009, the main organisers have been Mozaīka, the National LGBT Rights Organization LGL Lithuanian Gay League, and the Estonian LGBT Association.
The first pride event held in Latvia took place in 2005 under the name Riga Pride, as the local equivalent to other pride parades held elsewhere around the world. [1] Political opposition to Pride emerged after organizers received a permit. The Prime Minister of Latvia Aigars Kalvītis publicly opposed the event, and Pride was officially sanctioned only after a court overturned a withdrawal of the permit. The deputy Mayor of Riga Juris Lujāns resigned in protest at the event going ahead. [2]
Following public manifestations of homophobia surrounding the first event in 2005, [3] some members of the LGBT community, their friends, and family members united to found the organisation Mozaīka (Mosaic), in an attempt to improve the understanding of and tolerance for LGBT rights in Latvia. [4]
From 2006, the event was officially known as Riga Pride and Friendship Days, expanding the programme beyond a parade to include an ecumenical church service at St. Saviour's Anglican Church, and seminars on tolerance and LGBT rights. [5] It was significantly disrupted by protesters from "No Pride", among other groups. The European Parliament expressed its disappointment at the failure of Latvian authorities to adequately protect the parade.
The event took place in Riga in 2007 and 2008. [6] [7]
In 2009 the march was allowed by the Administrative Court of Riga. [8] It was the first to be called Baltic Pride and began a rotation annually between each Baltic state capital in cooperation with the Lithuanian Gay League, the Estonian LGBT Association (until 2012 known as Estonian Gay Youth) and their local Pride events. [9] [10]
At the 2012 Baltic Pride, 400 people marched in support of LGBT rights in Latvia, joining them were US diplomats showing support. [11]
In 2015 the parade took place as part of the Europride event in Riga, the first time the pan-European LGBT rights week came to an ex-Soviet state. [12]
In 2018, 8000 people marched in the pride parade held in Riga. [13]
Over the years, the event has been threatened by protests. In 2006, Riga City Council at first tried to refuse permission for the Pride Parade. Similar political debates surrounded the first Pride Parade in 2005.
The LGBT community in Latvia has been divided in its attitudes to the event. In a February 2007 survey of 537 LGBT persons by ILGA-Latvija, 82% of respondents said they were not in favour of holding the planned Riga Pride and Friendship Days 2007, while only 7% felt that these events would help promote tolerance towards sexual minorities. [14] ILGA-Latvija, however, has since changed its stance and now is positive towards the Riga Pride and Friendship Days.
The parade took place in Vilnius in 2010; it was the first public pride march organised in Lithuania.
In 2013, the mayor of Vilnius attempted to relocate the parade to the riverbank (where it had taken place in 2010), on a remote street outside the city centre. Two courts ruled that he could not, and that the Baltic Pride had the right to use the same route other public demonstrations did. [15]
Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius from the Liberal Movement has stated he has no opposition to the city hosting the 2016 parade. [16] On 18 June 2016, a crowd of 3,000 Lithuanian LGBT* community members and allies participated in the Baltic Pride March on the central avenue in the centre of Vilnius. The march took place without any serious incidents. People marched from Lukiškių Square to Bernardine Garden, a total of 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi). [17] After the march, the participants gathered at the Loftas art factory for a music concert, featuring performances by Dana International, DJ Leomeo, LaDiva Live, Maria Sam Katseva, Donny Montell, Ruslanas Kirilkinas and Sasha Song.
Baltic Pride was used to challenge the discriminatory application of the "anti-gay propaganda" legislation and to encourage public debate on the recognition of same-sex unions in Lithuania.
The 2019 pride took place between 4–9 June in Vilnius. Around 10,000 people marched in the gay pride on 8 June 2019. [18]
Pride parades have been organised since 2004 in Tallinn. The city hosted Baltic Pride in 2011, 2014 and 2017.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the organisation decided to cancel the event in 2020. The 2020 edition of Baltic Pride was planned to happen in Tallinn. [19]
Aside from ILGA-Europe, the event has also received consistent support from other LGBT organisations in neighbouring countries, most notably RFSL from Sweden and Amnesty International.
A pride parade is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events sometimes also serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most occur annually throughout the Western world, while some take place every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a pivotal moment in modern LGBT social movements. The parades seek to create community and honor the history of the movement. In 1970, pride and protest marches were held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco around the first anniversary of Stonewall. The events became annual and grew internationally. In 2019, New York and the world celebrated the largest international Pride celebration in history: Stonewall 50 - WorldPride NYC 2019, produced by Heritage of Pride commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, with five million attending in Manhattan alone.
The Singing Revolution was a series of events in 1987–1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established in 1993.
Jānis Pujats is a Latvian cardinal and the archbishop emeritus of Riga.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Estonia have evolved significantly during the 21st century. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Estonia. Since 1 January 2016, same-sex couples may register their relationship as a cohabitation agreement, which gives them the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. A marriage equality bill was passed on 20 June 2023, which means that same-sex couples will be able to marry and jointly adopt. It will take effect on 1 January 2024. Estonia will also be the first and currently only Baltic country and former Soviet-occupied state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Russians in the Baltic states is a broadly defined subgroup of the Russian diaspora who self-identify as ethnic Russians, or are citizens of Russia, and live in one of the three independent countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. As of 2021, there were nearly 900,000 ethnic Russians in the three countries, having declined from ca 1.7 million in 1989, the year of the last census during the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.
The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 690 kilometres (430 mi) across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR and had a combined population of approximately eight million. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Latvia face discrimination and legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents, although there have been some improvements in the 2020s. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Latvia, but households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. Since May 2022, same-sex couples may have been recognized as "family" by the Administrative District Court, which gives them some of the legal protections available to married (opposite-sex) couples; as of 2023 November there are around 40 couples. Nevertheless, same-sex couples are unable to marry or jointly adopt.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Lithuania have fewer legal protections than in most other developed countries. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Lithuania, but neither civil same-sex partnership nor same-sex marriage is available, meaning that there is no legal recognition of same sex couples.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Moldova face legal and social challenges and discrimination not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same rights and benefits as households headed by opposite-sex couples. Same-sex unions are not recognized in the country, so consequently same-sex couples have little to no legal protection. Nevertheless, Moldova bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace, and same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1995.
The Association of Nordic and Pol-Balt Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Student Organizations (ANSO) is an international non-profit non-governmental organization striving to improve the quality of life of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans - LGBT - students in the Nordic as well as Baltic countries. ANSO targets its activity to LGBT students in Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Åland.
Moscow Pride is a demonstration of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender persons (LGBT). It was intended to take place in May annually since 2006 in the Russian capital Moscow, but has been regularly banned by Moscow City Hall, headed by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov until 2010. The demonstrations in 2006, 2007, and 2008 were all accompanied by homophobic attacks, which was avoided in 2009 by moving the site of the demonstration at the last minute. The organizers of all of the demonstrations were Nikolai Alekseev and the Russian LGBT Human Rights Project Gayrussia.ru. In June 2012, Moscow courts enacted a hundred-year ban on gay pride parades. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled that such bans violate freedom of assembly guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights.
Rail Baltica is a greenfield rail transport infrastructure project underway, with a goal to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve rail connections between Central and Northern Europe, specifically the area southeast of the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, it is intended to be a catalyst for building the economic corridor in Northeastern Europe. The project envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Estonia) to Warsaw (Poland), consisting of links via Riga (Latvia), Kaunas, and Vilnius (Lithuania). Its total length in the Baltic States is 870 kilometres (540 mi), with 213 kilometres (132 mi) in Estonia, 265 kilometres (165 mi) in Latvia, and 392 kilometres (244 mi) in Lithuania. Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union (EU). It is part of the North Sea–Baltic Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).
The timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states lists key events in the military occupation of the three countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – by the Soviet Union and by Nazi Germany during World War II.
1990 Baltic League was an international football competition organized in 1990 between three Baltic states with the ongoing dissolution of the Soviet Union. The league consisting of 18 clubs from the Lithuania SSR, Estonian SSR, the Latvian SSR and a special invitee FC Progress Cherniakhovsk from Kaliningrad Oblast. For Lithuanian teams the league also served as a preliminary tournament for the first post-Soviet Lithuanian football championship.
Armenians in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania settled there mostly during the Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, although some of the first settlers arrived during the Russian Empire's rule in the Baltics.
The Lithuanian Gay League (LGL) is the only non-governmental organization in Lithuania exclusively representing the interests of the local LGBT* community. The LGL association is one of the most stable and mature organizations within the civic sector in the country, as it was founded on 3 December 1993. The main principle, characterizing the activities of the association, is the principle of independence from any political or financial interests with the view of attaining effective social inclusion and integration of the local LGBT* community in Lithuania. Based on its expertise in the fields of advocacy, awareness raising and community building, accumulated during twenty years of organizational existence, LGL strives for the consistent progress in the field of human rights for LGBT* people.
Pope Francis visited the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—from 22 to 25 September 2018.
Human rights in Lithuania have been the subject of much coverage. Lithuania scores 91 out of 100 in 2019 report by Freedom House, which classifies the country as "free", with high rankings in civil liberties and political rights. In particular, Lithuania ranks 30th among 180 countries, well above the world's average level in press freedom, and achieves a full score in freedom of assembly and nongovernmental organisations. However, there are concerns regarding children's welfare, domestic violence, discrimination against minorities including the Roma, Jews and LGBTI people, as well as inhumane treatments of prisoners. The Constitution of Lithuania guarantees the protection of human rights.
Kristīne Garina is a Latvian activist who was one of the founders of the LGBT organization Mozaīka in Riga and serves as its chairman of the board. She is the current president of the European Pride Organisers Association, the Brussels-based organization which plans events for EuroPride.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)