This post was submitted by John "Jolly" Bavoso

Last year I wrote a piece for another publication that I titled “The State of Pride.” The purpose of the article was to survey Gay Pride celebrations around the world and try to extrapolate from these events international shifts in terms of legal rights and societal attitudes regarding sexual minorities throughout the international community.

While the types and appropriateness of these celebrations are often debated in this country, Pride events are rather unique because, unlike many other aspects of queer life, they are common in a variety of different countries and are often held around the same time (June is the most common time, in honor of the Stonewall Riots, at least in the Northern Hemisphere). How peacefully an event goes off, or whether one is held in the country at all, may offer some insight into the way LGBT individuals are treated in a particular nation or region.

I also wrote in that original article that “the annual nature of such events provides observers both on the inside and outside of the gay rights movement an opportunity to check up on year-to-year changes in the status of sexual orientation as it relates to human rights around the world.” Now, a year later, we get to put that statement to the test.

The news surrounding Pride celebrations in 2009 seems to be surprisingly positive. Some countries that saw problems in the past hosted peaceful marches and festivals this year, and several countries and cities celebrated Pride for the first time in 2009. Of course, there were some conflicts and it is important to note that there are many, many countries where Pride celebrations remain unimaginable and illegal. Below is a survey of some of the notable Pride 2009 moments from around the world. This list represents just a handful of the many celebrations that could have been chosen, and only represents events held in the last month or so, so please add any information about Pride events in other countries and other times of the year in the comments section below!

Singapore/China

One of the most exciting things about the yearly nature of Pride celebrations is seeing annually the number of such events grow. Singapore, a country whose government is slowly becoming more tolerant of LGBT individuals, but continues to criminalize homosexual acts, witnessed its first Pride festivities this year. “This is a great opportunity for us to make our pitch for the equal treatment of the LGBT community in Singapore,” said a spokesman for Pink Dot, an LGBT organization in Singapore. This inaugural Pride demonstration, which was attended by approximately 2,500 people, was not only significant for the gay and lesbian community, but also represented a test to new free speech measures in the ethnically diverse country, which bans public rallies regarding race, language or religion.

The Chinese city of Shanghai, which is viewed as the country’s financial capital, also held China’s first rally this year, which was attended by hundreds of people. While the week-long event was heavily attended by expatriates and foreigners and was only reported on in the English-language press, the event’s organizers stressed that they wanted to create “something that everyone feels comfortable coming to and that can raise the awareness about the LGBT community in Shanghai for locals and foreigners, straights and gays.”

India

While this year’s Pride events in India may not have been the country’s first, they offered the most striking evidence that, while Pride may be considered a bacchanalian free-for-all in places like the US, in other parts of the world it remains a political tool for increasing the visibility of and advocating for the equality of sexual minorities throughout much of the world.

Pride celebrations took place in three Indian cities this year, Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi, and there was a definite issue on the minds of most marchers: the repeal of laws dating back to the country’s British colonization which criminalized homosexual acts. While homosexuality remains taboo in the conservative South Asian country, events such as these help to raise awareness and show support for the LGBT community. This point was highlighted by the fact that the high court in India ruled that gay sex must be decriminalized just days after the Pride marches occurred. Of course, these events themselves weren’t solely responsible for the ban’s reversal, but they certainly helped show the size and power of the LGBT community in that country.

Turkey

Istanbul held yet another Pride Parade this year, which is notable because, other than Indonesia, it’s the only predominantly Muslim country to hold such an event. The festivities were attended by 1,500-2,000 people and, although the parade route was initially blocked by the police and tanks, the celebration went off pretty much without a hitch. If you want to read a first-hand account of the event, you can find one here.

Brazil/El Salvador/Honduras

Latin America represents a unique contrast in terms of Pride and human rights for sexual minorities. Often viewed as an extremely conservative region of the world, gay rights are steadily coming into the mainstream throughout Central and South America and Sao Paulo holds the biggest Gay Pride event in the world, with upwards of 3 million people in attendance (the celebration even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 for its overwhelming turnout).  Smaller celebrations in countries such as Honduras, during which the issue of unsolved attacks against Honduran transgendered individuals was emphasized, and El Salvador also were held this year, among others.

Poland/Bulgaria/Latvia/Romania

Some areas of the world really do need monitoring annually, as Pride-related problems seem to arise every year. Many countries in Eastern Europe, which are adopting the liberal human rights protections common to European Union member nations, reveal how different official policies and societal attitudes can be, as many conservative and right-wing groups protest, sometimes violently, Pride festivities in this part of the world. This divide with Western Europe has been referred to by some European activists as “the pink curtain.”

This year saw less violence than in years past, but it is still to be seen how closely cultural attitudes will eventually align with inclusive policies in Eastern Europe. An initial ban by Riga officials was overturned by a national court this year in Latvia and this allowed for a small parade of about 300 people with heavily armed police escorts to march. While there was a fair amount of opposition present, the event ultimately occurred peacefully. A larger event was held in Poland, an extremely Catholic country, without much of the violence that had been so common at similar celebrations in the past. Bulgaria held its first Pride event last year, and it was met with great opposition, but this year’s seemed to go off much more calmly, providing some hope for more tolerance in that country. In Romania, the Pride parade was held at the same time as an almost as well-attended “promote normality” parade held by a far-right party.

Israel

Israel is another country which is generally watched closely around Pride time. It is also a country of contrasts. For instance, the parade in Tel Aviv, a gay-friendly city which is considered a bastion of secularism, saw over 20,000 revelers and little outcry. The yearly event in Jerusalem, however, tends to bring out more opposition from various religious groups. The capital’s parade generally only sees about 2,000 attendants and in the past has been a source of violence and conflict. This year, however, attempts were made to bridge the gap between conservative Jewish sects and the event’s organizers and some definite progress was noticeable at the celebration.

Russia

Not all countries have been moving steadily in the right direction, however. This year, the country which stood out the most in terms of opposition to Pride was Russia. The country, which is only recently openly talking about issues such as same-sex marriage, has seen many of these underlying issues manifested in attempts to hold a Pride parade in Moscow. In the past, the mayor of the capital city has made claims that Pride events spread AIDS and Russian nationalists have warned that they will try to “cure” any homosexuals who try to march. The dispute over Pride, however, has led activists to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, which could have lasting implications for the status of gay rights in the country.

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