This year’s Vancouver Pride is going where few others have dared to tread – into human rights, specifically foreign human rights – and it promises to be one of the most political Prides in Canadian history.
“Pride in the City,” this year’s Pride Parade and Festival theme, has already carved itself out both an international and national niche and this year’s edition will feature a human rights campaign with representatives from Polish and Russian Prides.
The underlying strength of the gay population and its accepted place in the mainstream of Canadian life is clearly evident given the major financial backing from Canadian “icon” companies such as Vancity, Cathay Pacific, Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre and Molson. There is also major political support for gay rights movement from federal Senators and civic political figures and officials.
‘We wanted this year’s theme to be a reflection of how far the Vancouver gay community has come since Stonewall. We also wanted to raise awareness of the movements still taking place abroad and do our part to end gay discrimination worldwide. That is what “Pride in the City†is all about,’ said John Boychuk, Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) President.
The VPS decided it wanted to ensure the spotlight be shone on homophobic nations that do not enjoy the same rights and privileges as gays in Canadian society.
‘We wanted living reminders of the fact that just because we are allowed to have Pride and celebrate our sexual orientation, does not mean that every other gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered person is also allowed to do so,’ Boychuk said.
Earlier this year, VPS contacted two gay rights activists from Russia and Poland where gay rights are not yet recognized. Dmitri Bartenev, a Russian lawyer supporting the legalization of Moscow Pride, and Tomasz Baczkowski, an organizer of the first Warsaw Pride held in May, agreed to come to Vancouver and enlighten Canadians about the realities of being gay in their respective countries.
The pair have been instrumental in promoting gay rights in their countries but have also had their lives threatened several times as a result.
There is ongoing controversy in Poland, Russia and all over Eastern Europe regarding the freedoms and basic rights, or lack thereof, in the lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual (LGBT) community. The mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, has condemned homosexuality stating that he will never allow a Pride to occur in Moscow. As a result, the past two peaceful attempts at hosting a Pride march have resulted in brutally violent attacks from anti-gay groups with little intervention from the Moscow police.
Homosexuality was illegal in Russia until 1993 and gay men and women were imprisoned for committing homosexual acts or the suspicion of such activities.
In Poland the situation for gays is no better. Polish president and leader of the Polish National Conservative party Lech Kaczynski believes homosexuality is a disgrace to the Roman Catholic religion and used anti-gay rhetoric as part of his winning election campaign in October 2005. As mayor, Kaczynski successfully banned consecutive attempts at gay movement parades in Warsaw stating that they would promote a homosexual lifestyle and that homosexuality was offensive to public morals. Defenders of gay rights who chose to defy the ruling were attacked by anti-gay groups, such as the government sanctioned League of Polish Families, and several marchers had their photos placed on an online hit list created by neo-Nazi skinheads. In 2005, Kaczynski allowed the counter-demonstration named the ‘Parade of Normality,’ which encouraged heterosexuality.
The Polish Prime Minister, Kaczynski’s twin brother Jaroslaw, has publicly declared that it is ‘not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals.’ In March, the Polish government drafted a bill to ban discussion of homosexuality in schools, resulting in the termination of any teacher who discussed homosexuality or revealed his/her homosexual orientation.
In December 2005 Baczkowski spearheaded a lawsuit against the Republic of Poland at the European Court of Human Rights charging that the gay community’s right to peaceful assembly had been violated, and that he and other gay rights defenders had been treated in an inequitable manner. The European Union voted unanimously in Baczkowski’s favour. On May 19th, 2007 Warsaw Pride organizers, including Baczkowski, were permitted to have the very first legalized Pride, named Equality Day.
Despite recent advances, the rights of the LGBT community in Russia and Poland have clearly been violated, if not completely ignored, for years.
‘The recent occurrences in Eastern Europe are similar to the Stonewall Rebellion in New York over 35 years ago and it’s appalling that a battle like this still has to be waged today,’ said Ken Coolen, VPS Parade Organizer.
‘Vancouver is very lucky to have the ability to host not only a Pride Parade but an entire festival. Even Pride organizers like New York who are well established, find that in their city, hosting celebrations and festivals are a continued challenge. Discrimination against the LGBT community is still prevalent and we need to keep reminding ourselves of the reality faced by gay individuals, especially those abroad,’ adds Boychuk.
VPS has also pushed forth the Montreal Declaration for LGBT Human Rights, a document calling for equal treatment and human rights for members of the international gay community. The campaign has already won the support and signatures of key political representatives including Senator Larry Campbell, the Honourable Hedy Fry and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan.
An August 3rd noon rally will launch the Vancouver Pride Weekend where the signed declaration will be presented by this year’s Grand Marshal, former Olympic gold-medalist and gay rights campaigner Mark Tewksbury, to Baczkowski and Bartenev to clearly show Vancouver’s support for their work and hopefully help them garner support from their political leaders on gay rights issues.
But it won’t be all seriousness. After all it is a weekend long celebration and it is anticipated that this year’s “Pride Season” will be the best to date.
‘Pride in the City will be bigger and better than ever and there will be something for everyone whether they’re young, old, gay or straight,’ Boychuk promises. ‘Our goal is to end international gay discrimination, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to celebrate and have a lot of fun. We want everyone to come participate and truly see what Pride is all about.’
