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Sociologist Artūras Tereškinas drew attention to Lithuania’s delicate problem: LGBT people suffer a lot of harm. Therefore, in his opinion, events like Kaunas Pride should appear in public more often. Meanwhile, the philosopher Gintautas Mažeikis lamented that the intolerance of the LGBT community was so strong that the march had to be fenced off from all sides, like in a ghetto.
Clearly state the political requirements.
The sociologist A. Tereškinas revealed to the portal tv3.lt that he appreciates the marches that took place in Kaunas and that there should be as many similar events as possible.
“The group of LGBT people in Lithuania is one of the most oppressed and discriminated against, especially when it comes to private life. There are no conditions for these people to enter into at least association agreements. We have neither marriage nor other institutes available to the LGBT group, “Tereshkin said.
In his opinion, public events related to the LGBT issue draw attention to the damage and discrimination suffered by this community.
“The hatred or intimidation of these people is very strong. Therefore, this march is one of the peaceful ways to change that situation, raise our political demands and at the same time show that these people are equal to others, that they have the right to demand the things that most of the people in Lithuania. “Said the sociologist.
He had to resist pressure from the Kaunas municipality
G. Mažeikis, Professor of Philosophy at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), himself participated in Kaunas Pride and shared his ideas with the portal tv3.lt.
He recalled that discussions on the issues raised by the LGBT community are taking place in Kaunas for the first time and continue to receive an unfavorable attitude from the city municipality.
One of the most significant initiatives is the debate organized by Kaunas 2022 European Capital of Culture in July on issues of concern to LGBT people. Both the discussion and the larger event, the march, were met with hostility and intimidation from the Kaunas administration, said G. Mažeikis.
“In the second great campaign [„Kaunas Pride“ – aut. past.] we have seen even greater resistance i would say <...> desperate, ”said G. Mažeikis.
The Kaunas Municipality initially did not give permission for the Kaunas Pride march, so the organizers went to court. After two court proceedings, the Kaunas city administration lost and was forced to agree on the place and time of the event.
The professor also criticized the negative statements of the mayor of Kaunas, Visvaldas Matijošaitis, about the LGBT marches that had spread in public. According to him, the mayor does not fully understand the meaning of this event and the objectives set.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Not only the LGBT community goes, but all those who defend equal human rights, women’s rights, the most diverse rights. Of course, the emphasis is on LGBT. The mayor of the city is clearly not aware of what is happening here or why it is happening. Therefore, his interviews are quite banal and he does not know what to direct, which only encourages aggression, “G. Mažeikis told tv3. lt.
During the event, protesters chanted “You are not our mayor!” Next to the municipality of the city. The slogan was addressed to V. Matijošaitis, who had previously publicly expressed strange jokes about the smell in Kaunas and the LGBT march.
According to the sociologist A. Tereškinas, such a position as mayor of Kaunas only deepens the conflict between the municipality and the LGBT community.
“Politicians, mayors or even members of the Seimas should be leaders. Such leaders who understand the importance of human rights. Now it seems that the mayor of Kaunas is simply humiliating this group of people. It doesn’t seem worth the trouble. public space, it is not worth the short program in Freedom Alley that is available to other groups, for example. This shows the limitation of the government of Kaunas in general or the limited vision of the mayor “, said the professor of the Department of Sociology of the Vytautas Magnus University.
The aggression of the antimithers prevented them from enjoying the event
Professor G. Mažeikis noted that the participants of the march were prepared for a possible attack by the protesters, but due to intelligent organization and responsible policing, more serious clashes were avoided.
The Kaunas Pride organizers demonstrated great legal maturity, as well as understanding their responsibility for the safety of all participants. Good agreement and coordination with the police, desperately avoiding any provocation, all this paid off ”, G. Mažeikis evaluated the safety of the march.
G. Mažeikis, who himself participated in the march, also described the consequences of the actions of the anti-protesters – according to him, the aggressive behavior caused tension and lowered the festive mood.
“The other side, aggressive, was extremely insulting, it tried by all means to provoke disturbances, it tried to organize violent actions, but thanks to the police all these problems were avoided. However, this aggression did not allow a great enjoyment of the march. It was done to reduce the joy, “he commented.
The portal tv3.lt recalls that 2 people were injured in Kaunas Pride, eggs were thrown at the participants of the march, one person was served beer. There have been cases of violations of public order and incitement to hatred. The police arrested 22 people and launched 5 pre-trial investigations.
The sociologist A. Tereškinas added that such hostile behavior of the people gathered at the Kaunas Pride march reflected the opinion of a large part of society.
“Society is not only intolerant, but also very aggressive towards this group. This is also due to the lack of political will to change the situation. If the laws were changed and we responded more strongly, more energetically to hate crimes, even hatred against these people expressed in cyberspace, then the situation should change, “he said.
G. Mažeikis regretted that not everyone was able to participate in the march. Laisvės Alley was blocked by the police from all sides, so several people who supported Kaunas Pride did not enter the march and found themselves beyond the barriers. “We saw a lot of people on the sides of the alley supporting themselves with posters and various other symbols,” said G. Mažeikis.
It is possible to guess that some people who wanted to participate in the march were not admitted due to security reasons and the large number of people gathered, mentioned G. Mažeikis. According to him, no one counted the exact number of participants, but adding both sides, Kaunas Pride participants and opponents of the march, would result in more than 3,000. people.
“All those who participated understood very clearly what kind of Lithuanian society we live in and that this pain should be discussed as widely and widely as possible to reduce future tensions and defend the rights of some Lithuanian citizens,” said philosopher G. Mažeikis . .
I insulted everyone in a row
The tv3.lt portal asked how Professor G. Mažeikis evaluates the behavior of antimers. All the more so since some of the hostile individuals had used Christian attributes.
“All people have been equally insulted, whether they are gay or straight, support human rights or pursue goals of the LGBT community. <...> And some religious people, determined to fight the “great evil” they imagine, not seeing what people are standing here or what they represent, “said G. Mažeikis.
“There was no discussion with whom. If you have access to something from the protesters against the march, the absolute majority has been limited to a few words of insult. Or on the cross: from the blessing to forgive sins to curses,” he said.
However, the professor noted that not all antimitators used Christian symbols. The groups of protesters were very diverse, he said.
“Some were representatives of the church, some were eternal fighters against pedophiles (Garliava’s story continues there), as well as various representatives of the youth from far-right groups,” said G. Mažeikis.
Laiv’s fenced alley was reminiscent of a ghetto
After the Kaunas Pride event, G. Mažeikis shared on his Facebook account that participating in the march was equivalent to being in a ghetto. For such a comparison, the professor has been criticized for belittling the memory of the Holocaust.
According to G. Mažeikis, this criticism is unfounded and undeserved, because all over the world there are ghettos of ethnic, racial, social or other minorities.
“It just came to our notice then. A lot of people on the move said we felt like a ghetto. <...> “There are African American, LGBT, Polish, Italian ghettos, not just Jews in Paris, London, New York and San Francisco,” he said.
The professor pointed out that the Laisv Alley fence with a fence or even concrete slabs, as well as other structures that restrict movement, resembled the structure of a ghetto. “Such a tight encirclement of the entire Laisv Alley also surprised the participants, perhaps in a good or bad way. <...> It was impossible to compare such a fall in a closed circle with anyone else, ”said the professor.
Critics linked the word “ghetto” used by G. Mažeikis with the 1941 Former Jewish ghettos in Vilnius and Kaunas, which were abolished, the Nazi regime transported Jews to concentration camps. “He imagined that he was insulting the memory of the Holocaust in some way, although there was no word in my comparison about the Jews or the Holocaust,” Mažeikis said.
However, when the discussion about the Jewish genocide began, the philosopher recalled some historical facts: the painful past of the LGBT community.
“The Nazis arrested all homosexual men and about 65 percent of those they identified. People destroyed in concentration camps. Later, during the Gulag, all homosexuals, who were also identified in Lithuania, were sent to the Gulag in the worse conditions and most of them did not return. If we started talking about insulting someone’s feelings, it was a reminder that LGBT people were unequivocally persecuted during the period of Nazism and Stalinism. However, there is no history of the LGBT community in Lithuania to tell how these people suffered and were persecuted during totalitarianism, ”explained G. Mažeikis.
Change in society is slow
A. Tereškinas, a professor of sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, pointed out that to change the public’s attitude towards the LGBT community, we need to be patient.
“The changes that are taking place at the social level are very slow. They are often influenced by conservative politicians or organizations that have a very strong great rostrum in Lithuania and spread their demagoguery very widely, ”said A. Tereškinas.
Politics aside, the change could mature in education. According to A. Tereškinas, one of the demands raised by the Kaunas Pride organizers could improve the attitude of LGBT people in Lithuania.
“The rather tragic stories of LGBT people should be taught in schools or in extracurricular groups. This group of people has been discriminated against by various regimes. <...> Also show in general the preconditions for the emergence of this movement. Provide adolescents or students with a better understanding of who is in this group, what their political goals are, and which of them are being achieved in the world. Education at least up to a point <...> it would help to open the horizon ”, summed up the sociologist.
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