The traditional gay pride parade in Berlin held last Saturday was extremely politicized. Participants in the 34th Gay Pride Christopher Street Day (CSD) spoke against discrimination of sexual minorities in Europe and, above all, in Russia. But Russia has no tradition of holding parades and carnivals. So, why should one start with minorities?
According to the openly gay mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, not everything is well with the rights of gay in Germany. Homosexuals are beaten and subjected to every kind of discrimination, said the mayor of the German capital. Another activist of the LGBT movement is the first manager of the Bundestag, a deputy from the party of "green" Volker Beck.
Beck urged the federal government to equate cohabiting of gay partners to a legal marriage.
Beck's partner died of AIDS three years ago. Herr Beck was beaten when he took part in an unsanctioned procession of representatives of sexual minorities in Moscow. After the police released him, Beck expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that he was not protected from the bullies.
The participation of the parliamentarian in a foreign to him country in the demonstration banned by the government and complaints about being bullied seem ridiculous.
No wonder that the decision by the authorities of St. Petersburg to introduce fines for "publicly spreading information that can harm health, moral and spiritual development of minors, including forming misconceptions about social equivalence of traditional and non-traditional marriage" caused much resentment. Beck proposed to take action to ensure such a law is not adopted in other Russian regions.
The guests at the parade made touching speech. The British ambassador in Berlin, Simon McDonald emphasized openness, tolerance and diversity of Berlin. Dutch ambassador Frank Mollen, according to the German portal rp-online.de, reminded the audience that in 76 countries homosexuality is punishable, and in seven countries it is punishable by death. Vice-chairman of the Bundestag Petra Pau called to get rid of prejudice against homosexuals and transsexuals.
The first gay pride parade was held in Berlin on June 30, 1979 and was dedicated to the events of a decade earlier. On June 27, 1969, American police officers on Christopher street of New York in Greenwich Village treated representatives of sexual minorities in a rude manner. At that time in the U.S. blacks, Indians, and the fighters for different rights were also treated in a rude manner, so homosexuals were not the only ones who suffered from the authorities.
But the protesters against the Vietnam War grew old, and some have died - as a consequence, the protests have stalled and stopped. But there people who like to create events where there are none.
This year's parade slogan was "Knowledge creates approval" (Wissen schafft Akzeptanz). The implication is that if straight people are educated with respect to sexual minorities, people become more tolerant towards them. This is true not only for homosexuals. That is the entire policy of the West - to impose their views of peace and democracy.
It seems that the West is hoping that Russia soon will follow their example. After all, until 1993 homosexuality was punishable by Russian law, and until 1999 it was considered a mental illness, so the progress is obvious. Then they had to make a symbolic shot of confetti (for a demonstration of their love of peace) in the direction of the Russian embassy.
If Moscow for the seventh time in seven years would not have banned a gay parade - it would not have been noticed. And why would Russia allow it? To avoid hearing the screams of the liberalists? The culture of the parades has been a long-standing Western tradition since the Middle Ages. In Russia there is no such tradition, or it did not take. So why would Russia start with gay pride parades? Let's first in the first two or three centuries try to organize parades similar to medieval ones in two or three major cities. Intellectuals will explore the book of Mikhail Bakhtin's on the European carnival culture and adopt it as a guide to action.
The medieval guilds and shops in Russia did not have their parades, and now the minorities are rushing into the streets..
Igor Bukker
Pravda.Ru