Kaunas Pride Organizers Invite Matijošaitis to Join and Wear the LGBT Badge

The response of the municipality raised doubts

The organizers of the first LGBTQ + march in Kaunas history, Kaunas Pride, have already managed to tackle the first hurdles. After requesting a permit, they indicated that since a thousand. up to 4 thousand. the procession of people to Independence Square through Laisvės Alley will start from the Town Hall Square in the Old Town. However, the answer has been received that such a route is not possible, as repair works are planned on the main street of Vilnius, which runs through the old town of the city, so it will be difficult to travel through it.

The left-wing organization, famous for its protests, and the union on May 1, which was born from the academic youth initiative “Life is expensive,” asked the municipality for permission to hold marches.

One of its representatives, Victoria (the editor’s last name is known – ed.), Said on Thursday that the response of the municipality raised some doubts, so it is planned to run again. According to Victoria, the works on Vilniaus Street have not yet started, it is not announced in the space when they will begin. The Kaunas woman said she doubted the pipeline replacement works would begin until September 4, when the march is scheduled.

Wait for the walk request in the city center to be granted

Until now, no permit has been issued to organize Kaunas Pride marches with the slogan: “We are everywhere.” However, there is the possibility that representatives of sexual minorities may be offered to march in places other than the city center. This has been the case in the capital, and LGBT representatives have had to defend their right to march down Gediminas Avenue in court.

“Everyone has the right to walk the main streets of the city. And the march is essentially an event for the public. We can meet in the woods or in an apartment, but the purpose of the march is different. It should be the most visible street. of the city. We will see how things progress, I hope that not even the permit (issued – ed.), But the report of the event will be answered in the affirmative. If something is different, we will see what measures will have to be taken “, said Victoria.

One of the organizers of the “Kaunas Pride” event hoped that permission to host the event would not require litigation with the municipality.

“Kaunas is announcing a lot that it is changing, it is a progressive city, so this line could continue. More so because Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture in 2022, so I don’t think the municipality wants negative public information about the fact that it did not grant its residents the right to walk on the main street of the city. ”Said one of the organizers of the event.

V. Matijošaitis is invited to the march, expects him to wear the LGBT badge

However, certain tensions may arise, because the union on May 1, which submitted the application, does not skimp on criticism from the mayor of Kaunas, V. Matijošaitis. This left-wing organization, together with representatives of the communities, organized a protest last week, during which it did not spare the criticism of V. Matijošaitis, the head of the city for the second term, that he did not listen to the opinions of the people. . . Ironically, the townspeople couldn’t find the mayor, the protesters painted a life-size image of him printed on a plastic plate.

Despite not only the positive attitude, the representative of the Kaunas Pride organizing group said that V. Matijošaitis is a welcome guest at the Kaunas Pride march, whose motto is “We are everywhere”.

“We will be very much waiting for the mayor with the LGBT badge at the march. This would be supportive, because Kaunas, like other cities, is home to many LGBT people. It seems to me that doing so could even repair my reputation,” Victoria told him. to Delfi.

It is not yet known if V. Matijošaitis will march in the LGBTQ + march

The mayor of Kaunas himself, V. Matijošaitis, evaluates how the organized march is evaluated. The mayor of Kaunas did not answer the phone, and his public relations adviser Tomas Jarusevičius stated: “As long as there is no specific information (when, where, how, etc.) from the organizers who intend to organize the march, the Mayor tends to refrain from personal comments. “

The mayor’s advisor mentioned that on May 1, the union made the initial announcement of its intentions to hold the march in September.

The same union on May 1 met a week later (on the afternoon of May 14) in the protest campaign “We are looking for a mayor” near the municipality. Here, the rally participants demanded, when making decisions, to provide more opportunities to express their opinion to the communities, the residents of Kaunas themselves.

Therefore, I have no doubt that this time the city will implement this requirement and will definitely take into account and evaluate the opinion of the residents themselves, which is really important, especially on issues relevant to society ”, said T. Jarusevičius , Kaunas. Public Relations Advisor to the Mayor.

Questions about whether the mayor intends to participate in the march and affix the LGBT badge, as the organizers suggested, were not answered.

The manifesto calls for equal rights for all

For the march of representatives of sexual minorities, the motto of the event was announced on the Facebook profile created on the Kaunas Pride social network – “We are everywhere.”

The organizers also distributed the main theses:

We are everywhere, so we don’t want to hide.

We are everywhere, so we want to live our life freely without harassment in the store, at work, at family celebrations, without violence on the street and at school.

We are everywhere, so we will not allow traditional values ​​to judge us.

We are everywhere, that is why we demand legal and social guarantees for everyone, without discrimination based on marital status, gender identity or sexual orientation.

We are everywhere, so we will no longer tolerate “free speech” coverage of hate.

We are everywhere, that’s why Kaunas Pride.

In a distributed manifesto, the event organizers discuss the challenges facing the LGBTQ + community today. Attention is drawn to hate language, discrimination based on gender identity and lack of privacy rights in the context of transgender identity issues.

The manifesto also focuses on sex education that has awakened many passions in society in recent times. “We are everywhere, so we want to learn about the LGBTQ + community and the different orientations, identities and gender expressions in schools, colleges and universities.

We want to learn about the history, culture and the fight for equal rights of the LGBTQ + community.

We are everywhere, so we want to learn, understand and solve the problems that are relevant to us. We want the public to be educated about its different members and to stop questioning our right to exist.

We want more information about the diversity of society, avoiding ignorance and hatred ”, announce the organizers of Kaunas Pride.