According to the local police, they say 19 of protesters were arrested, after the march
"We've made a decisive step towards greater tolerance," Vytautas Valentinavicius, one of the organisers, told news agency AFP. Between 300 and 500 people took part in the march, with a heavy police presence, some with dogs, others on horseback, protecting them from the protesters. Lithuania is a strongly conservative and catholic nation, homosexuality is still seen as a great taboo here.
"I feel like I've taken part in an historic event," said Ieva, a medical student, marching with her partner Monika. "My friends know I'm a lesbian, but not my parents. The pressure of the traditional model is really strong. But they'll see the photos and that we're just ordinary people. I hope that it'll be easier to tell them," she said.
They stood and matched under rainbow flags, with some marchers had placards saying "Human Rights Are My Pride" and "Different Families, Same Love".
According to AFP, local recent opinion polls indicate that most Lithuanians consider homosexuality a perversion, and many gays in the Baltic state live a double life, through fear and possible discrimination and persecution, "I have several gay friends who hold senior posts," Ramune Zvirblyte, an administrator at Vilnius University said yesterday, "I'm here for them. They didn't dare come here because they were afraid of being recognised. They were scared they'd face prejudice in their professional life,"
Police officers keep watch during the annual Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Pride Parade march in Vilnius,Lithuania,Saturday, May 8, 2010.About 400 people took part in the two-hour march, dubbed "For Equality", in a sealed-off area in downtown Vilnius. Holding large rainbow flags and dancing to music blaring from loudspeakers, they walked along a road near the city's Neris river. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
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With the locals there were also some foreign participants at the Pride event, including members of the European Parliament and Birgitta Ohlsson, Sweden's European affairs minister who said, "We are here because we believe ... in a just society. Labels are for filing, for clothing, not for people. And we are here today to remove labels from people,"
After the one and half hour parade, near the Vilnius city centre, participants were escorted to waiting buses to avoid running into their opponents, and greater harm.
Despite becoming a member of the European Union, the EU in 2004, the catholic country still has an appalling record on gay rights, banning many anti-discrimination marches, gatherings and prevented foreign campaigners from entering the country and speaking in public. It was nearly the same this year, when on Wednesday, a court suspended Vilnius city hall's approval of the march, after Lithuania's chief prosecutor said he had evidence that hard-line anti-gay groups were planning potentially violent protests. It took intervention from the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite who slammed the ban, saying there was a constitutional right to peaceful assembly. Maintaining it was up to the authorities to ensure public order.
There is still a long way to go for the local people, but, what we have seen this weekend is and amazing affront to the social injustice and prejudice gay and lesbian Lithuanians face on a daily basis. Whilst it's only a relatively small start, it is courageous beginning to a more equal and balanced society. I applaud and congratulate the brave people who marched on Saturday.
Jason Shaw
Jason's own daily slice of life can be found here at The Seafront Diaries!
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
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