ROTFLMAO!!!

Nice, and cuts to the quick right where the BOR needs it. :)

This is exactly WHY there are gay pride parades. There are also (in certain other countries) public displays of parades for other groups, nationalities, athletic teams, etc. Would v-twin suggest that for instance if one does not like a particular group of people we should condone or ban St. Patrick’s Day parades? Juneteenth parades? Athletic team parades? It’s all about being proud to be who you are without having to hide or be ashamed.

And as for the comment “We are different people in Eastern Europe, why do you insist in this if we don’t really want it?”, who is “we”? Excuse me, v-twin, but who is “we”?? Do you think that you really speak for all Eastern Europeans? Or just who *you perceive* to be the “moral” majority? (hmmm)

By the way, (v-twin) perhaps you live in an area or grew up in a culture that allows the public holding hands, but this is not universal. Segregation in the Middle East (Iran, for example) is so extreme in public that the women have to ride in separate subway cars. Sure, v-twin, you have the right to your opinion. Your expressions are certainly giving us all food for thought.

Romania is definitely at the forefront of liberating some of the ways of the stifling past. Hopefully, this healthy outlook for human rights will continue. In America, having the present administration look to the “good book” for inspiration in dictating law and debating rights, thank goodness there prevails the right to freedom of speech. It’s really good to see Romania joining in the struggle to do the same.

And also, think the “Gândul” suggestion that those who marched were doing so in the pay of NGOs purely to keep getting funding is pretty damn insulting. Coming out is damned hard anywhere in the world, coming out in Eastern Europe particularly so, and then standing up and walking through the streets of a hostile in a statement of your own identity is harder still. It takes a lot of guts to march in Gay Pride, and the suggestion that it’s some kind of professional scam is pretty low (I realise that you were quoting “Gândul” not necessarily relating your own opinion)

I think you’re right in the Eastern Europe has a fair way to go before catching up with the West in granting true equality to the gay and lesbian community (and merely being legal isn’t enough). (A recent article from the Guardian on this very topic (post the violence in Russia at which gay rights protestors were attacked viciously by the far right/religious conservatives – and then the police arrested the victims).

It would be nice to imagine that gay/lesbian/bisexual etc people could sit at home minding their own business, being with their lovers and making no protests; and that things would somehow change organically and they would gain acceptance, and equal rights. But really, when has that ever worked? Would you criticise Martin Luther King for going on marches for civil rights in the 60s?

Nice reply, mate. I enjoy debating a topic as long as it’s civilized and although we are on different ends of the issue, I’m glad we can discuss. Sorry it took so long to reply, I live in Canada and the whole time zone difference + school got in the way.

First off, I have nothing against sex, nothing against holding hands or kissing. Date whoever you want, but allow me the right to an opinion. I am not going to act on my opinion but I reserve the right to one(good or bad, informed or no). I agree with you that there should be some article in the law regarding civil unions between people of the same sex because of all the legal implications. Your exageration however regarding holding hands is miss-placed. Although if I were to ever marry, I would go for a white, prefferably Romanian girl. It’s just the way I was socialized and certain things I got used to.

I want what makes sense. Everything you’ve mentioned there (kissing, holding hands, flirting) is legal. We realize there are gay people around us. Thusly, we don’t need a yearly reminder. I never quite understood the purpose of the parade. Is it about giving more rights to gay people? Is it about raising awareness that gay people exist? Is it a celebration of “freedom of expression”(sexuality being one of them)? When I called the parade a “bloody circus” I was confused by the message(we’re were, we want to be treated equally) and what I was seeing (people dressed up, fancy hairs and make up). For me, it doesn’t add up. This year was the exact opposite of last year’s parade. Last year was truly a circus, more people got beat up, there were less cops and more gays marching.

If last year’s parade was met with so much resistance, this year’s resistance increasead, why not try something else? Why not march down without drag? Why not march with some signs, get a petition, do something to get the public on your side?

I am more than happy to accept people’s right to march for something they need and rightfully so. But I will never agree to a “Gay Pride Parade” like the ones in the West. We are different people in Eastern Europe, why do you insist in this if we don’t really want it? You have wide popular support in Germany, whereas here you have wide popular hatred. I sincerely belive that the EU is the only reason gay parades are allowed in Romania and that the Police is there to protect the gay people so that we don’t get into shit. Cuz if some gay dude/chick dies, we’re fucked.

You know, there was a really good editorial in Monday’s “Gândul” called “De ce zâmbesc homosexualii?”. The idea was that this parade keeps going just because these NGOs get funding from outside the country and this is a good way to get more money. All they have to do is report a number of incidents and that will increase their funding for their campaigns. Money that will never actually get to their intended use. Maybe it’s our Eastern-European paranoya that people just want money for themselves, but knowing my country and my countrymen, it’s plausible.

On my blog, I got this comment from a gay dude, Alex on the matter of the march. I will quote him here and if you need a translation, please tell me:
“Hai sa fim seriosi. Eu sunt gay, dar sunt contra acestor manifestari total idioate. Am un job normal, nimeni nu ma intreaba de orientarea mea si stau de ani de zile impreuna cu prietenul meu. Problema care e cei de la Accept – cica oamenii care ma reprezinta – pe draq – sunt cu fite in cap si cu aere de vedete. Sunt niste personalitati de-a dreptul ciudate, asta o spun eu in ca un gay. M-am ferit de “minunatele cluburi” si am considerat ca viata mea e viata mea si nu are sa se bage nimeni in ea. Sunt in totalitate impotriva Gay Fest.”

I thoroughly enjoy this exchange of ideas. I really could not care less if any of your readers or yourself consider me an ape with age-old ideals. Closing the tab with this page would’ve been much easier but I prefer to discuss things rather than ignore them as you have suggested.

Good day mate! :)

Well, 150 years ago, in Bucharest, it was okay for people to bathe naked in our beloved river, Dâmboviţa. :-)

Sorry, no photos, but there’s an 1868 watercolor painting which testifies this, by showing a few women, including a gypsy girl (in foreground) bathing.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Preziosi_-_D%C3%A2mbovi%C5%A3a_la_Bucure%C5%9Fti%2C_1868.jpg

It’s reassuring to see someone with a clear focus and with no obvious bias who can put things in perspective.

However, it’s not so reassuring to acknowledge that the best comment on some Romanians’ struggle for their rights comes from a foreigner.

“no one is talking a naked person wearing a leather mask menacingly waving a 3-prong spikey vibrator and whipping another naked person who is bound and gagged in broad daylight just outside the Sunday school after mass.”

WD:

Oh, you mean the Folsom St. Fair in SF, right?

Anyway, let me share a brief moment that really touched me regarding this topic. It was one of my last few nights in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and I was in the park (what an opening) with two friends having a beer. In Uzbekistan, a former-Soviet state, the relationship between most native Uzbeks and the Russians is a bit tense. The latter tend to congregate in the large cities and look down upon the former. Anyway, it was getting dark, and we were all having a good time reminiscing over strong Baltika beers.

A few tables away, in the most secluded corner of the park I caught a glimpse of a couple sharing a drink. The young man was Uzbek and the young girl was Russian. I could tell by their body language that this was an encounter between boyfriend and girlfriend. For a minute I had to ponder the beauty and sadness of the situation. Although I was to leave that troubled country just the next day, this couple was probably not so lucky; their future was uncertain not only because of political turmoil but also because of the nature of their love. Of course I have no idea what happened to that couple, but your post and comment reminded me of them.

As I prepare to leave Romania, I wonder if this next step on the ladder of social development can be made, fara excuse or delay.