Sat, Jul 04 2009

Gay Pride in Sofia still on

Fri, Jun 27 2008 18:17 CET bySvetlana Guineva 418 Views

The gay parade will happen, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov said, as quoted by Focus news agency on June 27. The gathering place is Моста на влюбените (The Lovers' bridge) near the National Palace of Culture at 4.30 pm on June 28. The parade's route would not be announced for safety purposes. It is only known that the procession will use sidewalks and pedestrian zones, without having to block the ongoing traffic, a statement posted on the Bulgarian gay organisation Gemini's website said.

In the mean time, Boyan Rassate, the leader of the right-wing Bulgarian National Union (BNU), visited the Sofia City Hall with the intent to file a complaint, insisting that the parade be banned, Focus reported. Rassate reminded the gathered journalists that three years ago, the gay parade scheduled to take place in Varna was foiled with the help of the local mayor.

Borissov should also have received an open letter from the civil formation Society and Values Association who protested the parade and petitioned it to be banned. They have been quoted by Focus as stating that their main concern was for the future of the Bulgarian family as a social unit. The associaton said that their motives for this request were not dictated out of hatred toward gay people, but that they were rather genuinely worried about gays and lesbians themselves.

A letter of protest by the Holy Sinod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church against the event has been sent to President Georgi Purvanov, Speaker of Parliament Georgi Pirinski, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and mayor Boiko Borissov, Focus said.

The Pride is initiated and organised by the Bulgarian gay organisation Gemini. Aksinia Gencheva, its executive director had told for The Sofia Echo earlier this week that BNU had threatened with open violence during the parade. She said that police had been alerted and had promised protection. Gencheva appealed to everybody who wanted to take part in the parade not to give in to any provocations.

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