GayFest 2007
As the remaining sun worshippers ran for cover, the joke on the street was God didn’t want a gay parade that day. For nearly two hours before GayFest 2007, a bitter storm had broken out over Bucureşti throwing torrents of rain to scour the dusty cityscape. Sewers threatened to backup. Dogs were silent.
Just before the witching hour, the irony of the heavens played its’ final card and lifted inclimate sanctions. Beneath the nimbostratus patchwork, Romanians were beginning to assemble to express their call for full acceptance of homosexuality.
Temporary fencing had been erected in a bid to keep things orderly as well as act as a barrier to any early antics by playerhaters. Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a large number of attractive men in uniform alongside the gay paraders.
Due to Romania’s recent shameful displays of violent intolerance and 1940s-like hatred, the anti-riot brigade of law enforcement professionals were not only armed to the teeth but had a massive caravan of paddy wagons on hand to deal with most any size crowd of hooligans.
The rain had delayed a number of participants from joining up in a timely fashion, so event organizers waited a little longer than advisable to get things underway. To pass the time, all one had to do was check out the cops to play Spot the Closetcase.
There was an ecclectic collection of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, bi-curious, straight well-wishers, people in denial, men in drag, and black-hooded “anarchists” replete with cliché Alternative Tentacles garb. All in all, it was a diverse bunch of fairly reasonable size given the bad weather and expectation of violence.
It’s the zany headwear like rainbow feathered punk wigs that attracted a plethora of low-brow journalists whose sole objective was to advance their leeching careers by the salient chronicling of exclusive shockjock highlights for the talking heads on your boob tube. And, believe me, the shallow whores of media were everywhere, eagerly constructing sensationalism for the ad revenue.
Yes, the Prince of the Parade was in attendance.
As were the fashion confused and afro-Elvis type gonzo revelers.
Nope, it wasn’t only men in the march who worked on maintaining a smooth complexion and precision goatee trimjob set below some George Michael eyes.
Not that his jock comrades took notice. Most of them weren’t the questionable sort. And all of them, irrespective of my speculative pandering, played the part of consummate professionals once the parade got underway. Although, at this point, it looks as if Mr. Bean had a touch of narcolepsy.
Some churchly folk came by to represent the invisible man in the sky.
Then, we got under way.
It was the hip thing to do: call your scared friends at home, “Oh my god, you should so totally be here. Everything’s fine and we’re having a blast. There’s some great music for dance marching and we’ve got beefcake bodyguards. I told you to come out, sweetie. Watch for me on TV, mmmkay? Ciao.”
In the midst of all the parading, the television crews were especially interested in the new spokesgay for Rothman’s cigarettes since they’ve introduced an innovative line of designer smokables for the queer in you.
Happily, anti-fascist representatives pointed out the monstrosity of Gigi Becali.
Someone needs a new stylist.
This tall drink of water was one of the better sights to see. Charming, fun, and very friendly, this gentleman was a master of eye liner and had the kind of plush eyelashes both gays and women dream of. Plus his sidekick was a cutie, too.
Some people tried to remain anonymous…
…while others were proud to be seen.
Jokes and laughter abounded.
This little, masked dance machine had a motor in his trunk that just wouldn’t quit. His back bumper was a non-stop hypnotic party incessantly swishing and swirling to the beat. “When the rumba rhythm starts to play…”
As hundreds of dedicated police officers carried out their duty of protecting the parade, the flotilla of paddy wagons rumbled past as they moved from the starting point to the march destination where they would wait to pick up any malcontents. Each truck spewed forth noxious clouds of dark fumes into the lungs of GayFest participants.
Radios came abuzz with urgent warnings. Commanders rapidly barked orders at the well-disciplined troops. And our line of protection began the ominous process of donning their riot gear en route.
A mobile crowd control unit armed with a water cannon was strategically placed toward the end of the march trail.
K-9 units rushed past growing crowds along side the road who watched us march. They were headed farther ahead of the parade to where trouble was looming. A little tension began to build.
The further we went the thicker the clusters of disapproving onlookers got. Glaring and frowning or jeering and taunting, you could see a deeply burning hatred in the eyes of a large number of people claiming to be followers of Christ’s philosophy of animosity toward your fellow man.
None of this stopped the dancing, of course.
Equestrian police from the anti-riot crowd control units trotted past at a fast clip toward the problem areas just ahead of us. And the tension built just a little higher.
The police seemed to become increasingly wary of the stream of onlookers who followed us down the last street, but I personally thought it quite obvious that most of these pretty boy teenagers must have been curious about if not attracted to gay men. The waifs hardly left our side, just keeping pace while gawking and smiling from ear to ear.
In an interesting twist on symbolic historicism, these two guys were calling for cultural comparisons to classical Rome. Is it wrong to admit I just loved the sandals?
Frankly, not all the drag queens deserved to rank very high on the royalty-o-meter, but there were at least one or two transvestites who rather fetching. Just behind this blond bombshell, the guy in the sunglasses was hiding his powder blue eyes that looked right out of a Hollywood set.
Is it really that much of a stretch to say I feel some kind of David Gahan vibe happening here?
Not everyone loves a shutterbug. Just ask this disgruntled photography subject.
An anxious police force sprung into action immediately upon arrival at our destination. They ushered people into awaiting vans and taxis in an effort to make sure everyone got out safely before the troubles got out of hand. Our little band of merrymakers made a mad dash for the exits on foot.
On the way out, public safety officials yelled instructions at us to hide rainbow flags, banners, or any other evidence that we had been part of the march because the golani were surely on the prowl to bash a few gays. I became visibly excited by the prospects of such an encounter.
Sadistically longing even.
I suppose it might be a form of sickness to actually look forward to a confrontation, but I’d been planning on it for days on end. Just to imagine some nutjob in a sports jersey making the error of swinging a fist in the direction of anyone in my crew… well, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine to think about neonazi’s getting a little bonk on the bean.
Sadly, I’ll cut to the chase here because there wasn’t any action. The riot police did a great job of instilling respect into the would-be attackers. Our posse safely landed in a nearby cafe to grab a drink to celebrate our successful completion of a human rights march.
There was plenty of chocolate and laughter to go around.
On big, flat-screen television, we watched a bit of the live news coverage as ignorant cavemen stupidly attacked trained riot police even though the parade had already dissipated into the pulsating capillaries of Bucureşti.
There was a brief reprise when a platoon of jandarmeria scrambled by the large glass windows of our cafe. Not wanting to miss any throwdown, I snatched my camera bag and slipped out the door to follow them down the block. Shocked and nervous Romanian pedestrians were lined up against the buildings unwilling to move until some authority declared the hostilities over.
Not I.
I zipped around the corner and tumbled myself right into the thick of the action, nearly earning myself a little rough treatment from the highly aggressive police force. Surrounded on all sides, I thought I might get my clock cleaned but apparently my holding a camera seemed to clue them into the idea I wasn’t an accomplice of the golani they were tossing around like ragdolls.
While it was a beautiful thing to witness, I’ll admit I flubbed up the chance to snag photos. My first reaction was to avoid getting beat by nightsticks, but a few second later I snapped away some shots. They turned out blurry and worthless. Sorry.
After five or six little snots had been hauled off by the men in black, things calmed down a little. Law enforcement stuck around a wee bit longer to make sure the attackers had been found. I couldn’t help but notice they had a Boba Fett thing going on.
After that, I returned to the cafe where my adoptive friends welcomed me back to the cold lemonade, chocolate, and surprising television coverage of out-of-control Becali followers who continued to attack police despite the fact that there were no gay people around.
And that’s how it went down, y’all. We marched. Tensions rose, but the police handled the whackos. The teargas, flying rocks, mass arrests, and bits of rioting stuff on TV was mostly just some fools attacking law enforcement officers after GayFest was well over.
Imi pare bine to mischievous Dezordinea Ordonata, civilized Adevaratul Mitzy, gentle Ştefan, suave Jorge, and charming Andressa.
Thanks to lively Bunissima. Extra special thanks (with whip cream and nuts) to the irrepressible Top Dog.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
you are aware that where you say, under a photo, “Some people tried to remain anonymous…”, that is Princess Briana Caragea, as far as I know the only/first public person who’s been an open supporter of the LGBT community in Romania.
Very nice post.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
very colorful celebration…..i’m glad the the police were issued to “support” the festivities….i enjoyed the creative outfits….especially the roman outfits (and yes! those sandals!)….the blond bombshell was a striking diva!
June 14th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Sorry for the confusion, Monsoux. The text refers to the photo below where the guy has his face covered, because I thought I’d seen him disguised the whole time.
However, now that names are being dropped, I should mention it’s high time Brianna Caragea (and her friends) let go of the whole “princess” thing. It’s really pretentious, especially for a rather distant relative of someone who once bribed the Ottoman empire with cash to be appointed temporary ruler for all of few short years over a small subsection of modern Romania two centuries ago. I mean it’s nice of her to lend her support and all, but the whole nobility charade can be dropped any time now.
Besides, we know who the real Prince is!
June 15th, 2007 at 1:27 am
Haha iloveyou marryme.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:53 am
I hear the voice of democracy speaking. :)) Anyhow, I like her very much for what she does, says, is, without knowing her, being introduced that is. More importantly, because she never made fuss about her title, nor blood, it’s always the others who are doing that ;)
June 15th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Only a few pictures of me :( I though we were there for a photo shoot! :))
That’s pretty accurate. That’s how it felt marching. Very funny: “Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a large number of attractive men in uniform alongside the gay paraders.” :)))) That’s what I thought, too: I never knew there were so many gay in the Jandarmeria, glad they could take a day off to join the parade!
June 15th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
and i am civilized. :) cool nice post and nice pics
June 15th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
stingo – Now, now, it’s never nice to tease.
Monsoux – :D
andressa – The photo shoot is scheduled for next week. Were you able to Spot the Closetcase?
Robert – Indeed. And I’ll shoot the entire set (good, bad, and ugly) to your inbox.
June 16th, 2007 at 10:21 am
[...] Romanian GayFest 2007 A top, picture-laden report of freedoms asserted in the face of small-minded, violent hostility (tags: Romania Civil_Liberties) Bookmark to: [...]
June 16th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Looks like it was a lot of fun. I’m glad everything was all right, too.
I’m also glad a bunch of idiots got what they deserve – good show on the part of the Jandarmeria. Almost makes me feel like Romania’s a civilized country :))
June 16th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Yeah, it was more fun than I had imagined it would be. Mostly because the golani all thought I was gay, yet I apparently wasn’t able to fool any of the gay men. I did a little marching, I did a little chanting, I did a little photography. Good times.
I think I’ll try to mesh my schedule with yours this month. See if we can’t meet somewhere to do something before June is over. So, check your inbox over the next couple days when I fire off a missive.
June 17th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Hm… I’m going on vacation tomorrow, theoretically from Monday to Friday. If anything, it’ll have to be after that, I bet… unless you’re willing to go on a trip to Predeal with a stranger you’ve never met before? ;) :P
June 17th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I can hardly wait :)
June 18th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Fabulous! This totally entertained (and successful distracted) me as I should instead be writing reports about human rights at work. Although I don’t know your personal story as I am obviously not adept enough to navigate your blog to find a bio (I attribute it to the funny foreign language that you often use :-) but I guess we’re similar in that I’m a “Polimerican”. Gayfest (which I was at the first in Buch. a few years back) seems to have matured as is evidenced by this little shindig organized in the streets. When i was there a tv station interviewed us and said that only 1-2 ppl in romania would go on tv openly as gay homosexuals. And now look, scores of people out in rainbow wigs and masks! One step closer to liberation.
And i understand your zeal for some “action”. I had that feeling 4 yrs ago when we had our first gay street even in Krakow and was chased by an angry mob which proceeded to destroy the town sq and fight with the police when they realized there were no faggots around to bash. Yeah, it’s not my gig anymore I’d have to say. I do however feed off this nasty vengeful pleasure of seeing the police club a skinhead or two. Makes me realize there are good reasons why we have laws against police brutality and torture lest we get ahead of ourselves.
so that’s that….any time you wanna come up north and get a taste of some good ‘ol slavic homophobia let us know….
June 18th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
bullshit article…. didn`t like it at all.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:05 am
L.O.L.
Lol.
I think I found the closet case.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:08 am
[...] of pictures and a report from the GayFest 2007 in Bucharest by Romerican: “Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a [...]
June 19th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Greg – Welcome to the show. Action isn’t really my gig these days either, so I appreciate the sentiment and generally concur. I must admit I had gotten myself all worked up over this particular likelihood and was somewhat crestfallen when the vision didn’t come to fruition. Good luck up yonder and thanks for stopping by!
June 27th, 2007 at 1:18 am
Listen here you American fruit cake! We don’t give a shit about what you say and we don’t give a damn about the “American dream” or your so called democracy. We say “fuck it and fuck you … if you don’t like it get the hell out!”
Most Romanians do not give a crap about homos and would surely kick their ass if they said they were fags, drags or lesbians or any other shit related do those damn fanny bandits.
We are proud to be what we are: Orthodox Christian Romanians!
… and no fruit cake American such as yourself or any police officer or any government official can make us change our ancient ways.
We’ve been living by our own laws for over 4000 years on this land that God gave us and changing our ways is impossible so I suggest you shut the hell up and move on out of here with all the fags that try to corrupt our nation if you don’t like it cowboy!
Romania will never accept homosexuality and the light of the holy cross of Jesus Christ shall always protect our people and land!
If the homos are so proud and brave about coming out why do they need 2 to 3 times more wanker police men to protect them? hmmm? I’ll tell you why … couse otherwise they would be trampled by the people who don’t accept this moral depravation of society! If they were truly proud and brave they would march with no police forces or at least the minimum … but alas, fags are cowards and all they did was attract even more hate towards them … wow, very fucking brilliant of them, they deserve a Nobel prize for that … idiots.
On more thing, you talk about “Jiji” Becali as if he was some kind of big figure that has many followers. Apparently that saying about Americans being dumb fucks is indeed true (LOL) … Becali is just a fucking loud mouth that was once a sheep herder and uses our holy Orthodox faith to his interest as if it was a tool. Most of us don’t care about him and usually laugh at his far fetched and idiotically funny sayings. To call him a “nazi of sorts” and his followers intolerant is like calling Bush a hero for the Iraqis.
If you don’t like it leave! If you wanna live here respect our rules and our ways! We don’t go to America changing shit so don’t come here lughing at our ways and most of all at out beliefs!
June 27th, 2007 at 10:31 am
^ Now that comment makes me ashamed of being born in this country. Too bad, I was starting to like it, too.
Son, I have a question here for you: where does it say that “God hates homosexuals”, and why is that so much more important than “love thy neighbor”?
Another one: Since when was Jesus so intolerant? Maybe you don’t understand what the basis of Christianity is – I don’t blame you, even I don’t understand it all myself because priests have been perverting the teachings of God for so long, but I’m pretty sure you have it all wrong.
And Becali? Watch the news sometime – you’ll see a lot of idiots are following him because he seems to be doing good things, and they’re willing to look past the fact that he’s a blithering idiot (which I’m not convinced he is) and follow him in his intolerance because maybe he’ll give them money if they do. As for your parallel with “calling Bush a hero for the Iraqis” – you need to read more, son. Find out what Iraqi people are saying, and thinking. I think you’ll be surprised to learn they’re just like Romanians after the Revolution – most relieved to be free, but a few loud-mouthed idiots saying how much better it was under [insert dictator here]. Then again, who knows, you might be one of those nuts who thinks it was all better under Ceausescu.
One more question: who is this “most of us” you seem to be speaking about? I can barely ever claim to be speaking for me and my friends, people I’ve known for quite a few years, and that I’ve shared a lot with – how can you claim to be speaking for a majority of Romanians? There’s 22.6 million Romanians, who exactly are you speaking for? I’ll tell you – you’re speaking for yourself, and your misguided intolerant friends. It’s easy to think the whole world thinks alike when everyone you know thinks a certain way, but this same thinking is a result of your friend selection process.
This is the only time I will waste my time trying to make a point like this – people like yourself, so-called “Romanian Patriot” (ha, what a joke! You wouldn’t know patriotism if it bit you in the ass), are unable to see reason. You’re too stuck in your closed-minded ways to be able to recognize how the world works, and no amount of talking will plant that knowledge in your head. Perhaps your parents should consider retroactive birth control, but then again, it’s probable that’s who you learned this intolerance from in the first place.
On the bright side, the human race seems to be moving towards tolerance, slowly but surely. Maybe Romania will catch up one day. Or maybe they’ll just nuke us one day and it’ll all be a moot point. I can’t really be arsed to care about that when such shining examples of humanity are what Romania has to offer.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I agree with Narc that “Romanian Patriot” (who certainly is not a patriot, in modern connotation) clearly has not ever read the Bible, has no understanding of what Jesus said and taught, and basically has no concept of what Christianity is, but rather ignorantly and crudely attempts to use it as some sort of identifying label out of a need to belong to a gang rather than ditch sheep-like groupthink in preference for independent intellectualism.
But I think we may possibly be victims of a spoof here. There’s entirely too much childish and gratuitous use of profanity. And, most revealing, some of the statements simply defy belief. I mean, how could you *not* burst out laughing at such over-the-top phrase construction such as: “…the light of the holy cross of Jesus Christ shall always protect our people and land!” Hilarious.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I have to admit I did think it might be a spoof. But if it is, it’s not over-the-top enough to be obvious to me.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Yeah yeah … “narrow minded idiot” , “he doesn’t know anything about Christianity”, “He’s not a really a patriot” … etc etc. *YAWN*
As for the homosexuals read the Bible and find out what is installed for them in the future ;) … let me give you a hint: read the Leviticus ;)
” “…the light of the holy cross of Jesus Christ shall always protect our people and land!” Hilarious ” – you find this being hilarious yank boy? Then move the fuck out you fruit cake!
“One more question: who is this “most of us” you seem to be speaking about? I can barely ever claim to be speaking for me and my friends, people I’ve known for quite a few years, and that I’ve shared a lot with – how can you claim to be speaking for a majority of Romanians? There’s 22.6 million Romanians, who exactly are you speaking for?” – Well duhhh, the majority of the Romanian people who not only live in Bucharest (like you, I assume) … ask any person from Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Craiova, Constanta or Timisoara what they think about homosexuality and their reply will surely be a statement against the fanny bandits.
*YAWN* You simple narrow minded liberal-democrats are really a laugh, I’m quite amused by your remarks and your statement … You’re the good guys who want everyone to live in peace with everyone … Hello, wake up and smell the coffee, it never happened, it doesn’t happen and it will never happen … but eh, you go on and try to stop “bigotry” LOL
June 28th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Perhaps you refer to Leviticus 11:7-8 where God is unwavering in his directives toward you.
Now I see why you must enjoy the taste of your foot.
Obviously, this will become an unproductive conversation that’s best terminated. But I’ll be the one to break the bad news to you and explain that hatred is not a valid argument. When you use it, you tend to look really dumb to intelligent and educated people (even if a few ignorant unwashed plebes think you’re cool).
You haven’t read your Bible. That’s painfully clear. As such, it leaves you desperately ungrounded in your vitriol. And I would find it cruel to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
Therefore, to make your weekend a fascinating experience, I recommend a well-studied and scholarly intellectual such as yourself engage your mind in academically pondering the deep underlying significance and modern relevance of Leviticus’ passages — I’ve handily prepared for you as a user-friendly ClickableLinkescu(tm) — which outline God’s very strict and detailed commands in relation to the quandry you attempt to bandy about.
Leviticul – The Book You’ve Never Even Read Once! (sm)
You are invited to quash any proclivity toward reprisals of asshattery. Upon successful completion of the reading assignment, please know the resulting lucidity is my gift to you, frate. Noroc!
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:52 am
What a bunch of subhumans! amerigays go home.. we’ll fuck the romgays in the ass ourselves> HAHAHAHAHA daca ni se scoala la asa poze ciumelnite!
September 9th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Funny that you quote scripture out of context. Only shows how ignorant you are. Maybe instead of reading every other word and understanding the way it suits you, you should read the whole thing.
It hate to say this about another Romanian but i’m ashamed of you sharing the same birth land as me. Not because you are gay, we all have our sins, and even though being proud of your sin that isn’t what I am talking about, but your hatred toward Orthodox Christianity, toward God and your own people, simply because we don’t support your sin.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:00 am
[...] “Tu quoque Brutus fili mihi?” Foto: Gay Fest 2007 [...]
July 16th, 2009 at 5:05 am
[...] quoque Brutus fili mihi?” Foto: Gay Fest 2007, Bucareste, [...]
September 2nd, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Hello,
I am writing an article about lesbians in Romania in the Hamburg based lesbian magazine ‘escape’ which is a voluntary non-profit magazine. In the search for some pictures for the article I found fotographs on your website
http://romerican.com/2007/06/14/gayfest-2007/
which I would like to use if this is possible. Do you agree? Who has the rights over the fotographs?
I will be very very thankful about your reply,
I am in a little hurry since the deadline for my article is in the middle of this month,
with warm regards and best wishes,
yours
Joelle
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Joelle,
Thanks for your interest. The photos are available for use under Creative Commons licensing. Particularly, they are available for use under two basic conditions: Attribution must be made (Photo by Romerican.com) and usage must be non-commercial (if you’re an individual or a non-profit organization).
If you meet these two conditions, you’re pre-approved to utilize the text and photos however you like. If you don’t meet these two conditions, then we would have to discuss special arrangements.