BY NATASHA BARSOTTI - The de rigueur clampdown on
Pride events in several Eastern European countries, plus the proliferating
moves to pass anti-gay laws in the region, has prompted a majority of
European Parliament members to adopt a resolution "strongly
condemning" discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity.
The May 22 resolution comes on the heels of the seventh
consecutive prohibition of Moscow Pride and the violence that erupted during an
aborted attempt to stage a Pride march in Kiev, Ukraine.
Activist Svyatoslav Sheremet, of the group Gay Forum of
Ukraine, was left beaten and bloodied when a group of youths attacked him following a media briefing about the march's cancellation, half an hour before its
scheduled start, because of police fears of an attack by ultra-conservative
counterprotesters.
About a dozen youths tear gassed people who had gathered
for the march.
The day before what was supposed to be the first-ever
Pride parade in the Ukrainian capital, vandals also damaged a photo exhibit
that showcased the lives of queer families in the former Soviet Republic, which
became independent following the USSR's dissolution.
But like several cities within the Russian Federation,
its neighbour Ukraine is on the road to passing so-called gay propaganda
legislation that would criminalize queer human rights efforts and ban
information about queer issues.
In its resolution, the European Parliament "condemns
the violence and threats surrounding the Kiev Pride event," notes that EU
agreements are conditional on respect for fundamental rights, and calls on
Ukraine to introduce legislation to prohibit discrimination, including
discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.
The European Parliament also calls on Ukrainian
authorities to immediately revoke proposed anti-gay legislation, as well as
"commit to making a safe Kiev Pride event possible next year." It
also "regrets" the gay propaganda laws already in place that are legitimizing
homophobia "and sometimes, violence, as in the case of the violent attack
on a bus carrying LGBT activists on 17 May 2012 in Saint Petersburg."
These laws and proposals are "inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which precludes discriminatory laws and practices based on sexual orientation, and to which Russia, Ukraine . . . and all EU Members States are parties," the resolution states. It further calls on the Council of Europe to "investigate these human rights violations, verify their compatibility with the commitments linked to Council of Europe membership and the European Convention on Human Rights."
