Bulgarian Pride A Crying Shame
While last Saturday marked India’s first gay pride marches, it was also the first pride march in Sofia, Bulgaria, and while India’s seemed to get off on the right foot, things didn’t go so well for those in Sofia.
There was a great deal of political and religious pressure put on the Mayor of Sofia to cancel the event. Instead, the route of the parade was changed – twice. The parade route was changed from Vitosha Boulevard to Southern Park – authorities thought the latter would be quieter, and therefore safer. They then realised that taking the parade out of the busy part of town was potentially even more dangerous for marchers, so the route was changed back.
Between 150 and 200 people participated in the Bulgarian march. Their message was a simple and peaceful one – but it fell on deaf ears. Around sixty people were arrested for throwing rocks, firecrackers and Molotov cocktails at the marchers. There were almost the same number of police as there were marchers, but their presence did nothing to deter the extremists. Thankfully no-one was hurt.
In the weeks leading up to the march the Bulgarian National Union organised an event called – “week of intolerance”, that carried the slogan ‘Be normal, be intolerant’. Bulgarian religious leaders followed suit, putting pressure on the Mayor and the media.
Homosexuality was only decriminalised in this part of the world six years ago. According to media source IPS, when it comes to Bulgaria’s 8 million people, 6.5 million are Christian Orthodox and almost a million are Muslims. Both religions condemn homosexuality – this is what the Bulgarian gay community is up against.
Photos: Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
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shyish
said last month on the 10th