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Dear All,


Back again in Budapest :) we are proud that Amnesty efforts had such a great success and archieved the first Pride in Lithuania.

I also would like to say THANK YOU for all the support you delivered, all your signing petitions and sending messages! :)


Here is quite an official report also appearing on Facebook, and below I added some comments.


Baltic Pride was held with heavy police protection on 8 May 2010 Saturday. About 400 demonstrators participated by organizations like Baltic gay associations (Mozaika, LGL), ILGA Europe and Amnesty International. Participants marched holding large rainbow flags, banners calling for tolerance and equality, and dancing to music blaring from loudspeakers. The Pride was supported by diplomats and members of the European Parliament, expessing the importance of tolerance with interviews and speaches. March was just 500m long but a real breakthrough for gay rigths situation in Lithuania, where homosexuality have been a taboo.

Security was high, about 800 policemen protected the sealed-off riverside area against 1000 counter-demonstrators. The opponents of the first lithuanian Gay Pride tried to break in the area, holding homophobic signs, shouting hurlments in loudspeakers and throwing stones and smoke bombs at the police which used tear gas to stop them.

Media attention was high, and despite the attacks on the police cordon, peaceful crowd stood at the other side of the river, watching the colourful celebration and listening to the music of the first Lithuanian Pride Parade.


Well that’s a very short briefing of the events, still I have to add some more infos.


1, Police protection was excellent, this also meant we couldn’t leave the hotel till evening, entrance cards were checked by police at the entrance for several hours. Security briefing started at 9 at Saturday, security leaflets were given out with rules to follow, emergency phone numbers and “do’s and don’t” in case of emergency. For example if counter-protesters would break in, do not fight, don’t try to convince them, don’t even speak to them, just stay calm, keep on smiling and behave peacefully. (Rule number one of peaceful resistence, but it is still hard to do it when there is real aggression). Also clothing rules (no harsh colours, no high-heels, only everyday clothes,), behaviour (no provoking behaviour, no same-sex-holding-hands, no kissing), escaping rules (hide every colourful campaigning stuff when arriving and leaving), buddies rule, no leaving your delegation at the march, and in the evening taxi-only rule (no wandering around in the city).

This all worked wonderfully at the Pride, and I am just astonished by first class police protection work; still it was really hard to keep all. We stayed hours closed up in the hotel which was a HQ for Pride organisors, and we have seen nearly nothing of Vilnius, security briefings, debriefing, conference, one after the other. Fortunately Amnesty people are wonderful, open and friendly, we talked a lot, so we used the time being closed up.

But anyway, as Amnesty works as an ice-breaker for human rights, it will always be like that. This year in Vilnius, next year perhaps in Sarajevo, but always in countries where strict safety instructions are needed.

2, Conference: As we arrived on Friday about 5 p.m., so we just saw the last conference block, “Access to Justice”. We learned a lot of essential facts about Lithuana, 75% of the population is Catholic, churchs lobbies against gay rigths, and homosexuality is a strong taboo, and as the is no visibility, they are thought to be pederasts and so on, no wonder laws in Lithuania change so slowly towards non-discrimination. According to researches, Lithuanians thinhk themselves to be very tolerant (better average score at this question than the average score of EU) but when it comes to specific questions, they are low below that of EU (For example: would you accept if your country’s leader were a homosexual? 4 points out of 10)

This significates perhaps they think they’re too tolerant (that’s the first high score) and that they don’t really want to be (second).

Vilnius is a quite city anyway, churches on every corner, not too much cars on the streets, old ladies chatting, on the main street wooden spoons and knitten gloves are sold as souvenir. Families with children walk peacefully or ride bycycles together. They younger generation lives another kind of life (party places, first class art design shops) but this two just lives together.

Christianity is a very strong there, historically they are proud of their religious culture. (First they were pagans and battled a lot against Christianity, after they become Christians and battled bravely for it.) So one in all, this is a kind of brave and clear-in-the heart nation which just not the type to give up; and all this homosexual topic is a kind if threat to their national dignity and they stand up and fight for it. (I personally think it is always very important not to crush religion and culture but call for tolerance and peace). So the question is not that easy; but when the now 30-year-old new generation grows up to 40 and 50, they will have the majority this will change for more open attitude and acceptance...

Love,

Agi