Euro Pride 2015

Euro Pride 2015 – EuroPride is one of Europe’s main LGBT events and this year it ill be hosted by Riga, Latvia, coinciding with the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.  This EuroPride marks a historic occasion as the first EuroPride to be held in a post-Soviet country on the EU’s Eastern border with Russia. This year’s event provides an invaluable opportunity to draw pan-European attention to LGBT and human rights in the region. Riga, Latvia.

Euro Pride 2015

The central and most visible event during the EuroPride 2015 – Riga will be EuroPride Pride Parade.

EuroPride 2015, as any pride event, symbolises visibility of LGBT people and their rights to freedom of assembly. At the same time it will draw attention to problems of LGBT people not only in Latvia and in the Baltics but also in Eastern Europe and beyond – in post-Soviet countries and other places in the world where LGBT rights are at critical risk. One of the main themes of the EuroPride 2015 – Riga march is solidarity. This is a historic occasion when EuroPride takes place in a post-Soviet space for the first time therefore a special spotlight will be given to LGBT organisations and activists from post-Soviet countries.

EuroPride 2015 Parade will take place on June 20, 2015 at 14.00. Parade will include main central streets of Riga. The parade will end in a park where Rally is going to take place right after the parade. This is the first time when a pride parade in Riga will be longer than few hundred meters.

It is estimated that EuroPride 2015 parade in Riga will be attended by at least 2000 participants.  The parade will consist of groups representing countries, prides of different cities (New York, London), different international and national organisations, and, of course, many individuals. Special attention will be given to participants from former Soviet Union and organizations working with human rights issues in homophobic and hostile environment. Traditionally Pride Parades in Riga are led by number of Ambassadors from different countries and politicians from European Parliament.

Europride is a pan-European international LGBT event featuring a pride parade, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride event or a strong LGBT community. When voting for the host city, experience of the organisers, political significance of the event for the region and host city’s gay friendliness all come into play.

Europride was first celebrated in London in 1992, attended by estimated crowds of over 100,000. Since then it has continued to grow both in number of participants and political significance, though not always at the same time! In 1997 in Paris over 300,000 people marched to the Bastille. In 2011 around 1,000,000 people attended pride festivities in Rome by the Coliseum. However in between a smaller scale Europride took place in Warsaw, Poland, where 10,000 people braved the streets of still conservative ex-communist country to hold an important political demonstration that proved to be a turning point for LGBT rights in Poland.

EuroPride 2015 was awarded to Riga, Latvia after Association of LGBT and their friends MOZAIKA delivered a bid based on solidarity with LGBT community in post-Soviet countries and significance of strengthening the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in Eastern Europe.

EuroPride in Riga will be a historic occasion in which, through a wide variety of events, we celebrate the achievements in LGBT rights in the region over the last decade, look forward to the challenges ahead, and commemorate victims who have suffered and continue to suffer in Latvia, in other post-Soviet states, and elsewhere in the world, on their path to equal rights. This is the first time EuroPride is held in a post-Soviet country, on the EU’s Eastern border with Russia, and is an opportunity to draw pan-European attention to this region, solicit international support for promotion of LGBT rights, and stand in solidarity with those struggling to fight oppression of LGBT rights just across the border.

Be the Change! Make History! Changing history is hot!

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