Under the headline "Savisaar shows no support for sexual minorities", the independent weekly reveals that the jolly leader of the Centrist Party has declined to join other European mayors - including those of Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Barcelona - in upholding the rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals to freedom of speech and public expression.Sparking controversy is the fact that though personally called upon to address the matter, Savisaar passed the buck on deciding not to support it to his underlings. "What we are dealing with here in an important stance and an issue that is very topical in society today, which is why I am asking the education and culture committee of Tallinn City Council to examine the issue and make their own proposals," Savisaar wrote. They advised him not to sign up.
The nub of the letter addressed to Europe's mayors by sexual minority representatives is the infringement of their rights in post-Communist Eastern Europe: restricting freedom of speech and making it almost impossible to hold demonstrations and public gatherings, with the police failing to provide sufficient security. It also points out that leading politicians in neighbouring countries (but not Estonia itself) have used discriminatory language in reference to sexual minorities.
Sadly, whether or not Itkar acted appropriately in delegating responsibility for weighing up the issue, it was a no-win situation to begin with: someone in his position, from his party, considering its grass roots support, was never going to sign up to anything so taboo, and the fact that the issue remains so in the country means that his inevitable 'no' will only reinforce the image of Estonia as a homophobic nation. Which it perhaps deserves.
4 comments:
The fact that this is in the news and that people are talking about it is GREAT NEWS. Estonia's awareness of its homophobia is its first step toward fixing itself. Your presence in Estonia, Greg, is a huge plus for the gay community. The fact that you blog about this is important. Keep it up!
Thanks Donna!
Savisaar's a good man...I'm sure you misinterpreted the article. Also, I know many Estonians, and I can't say that any of them are specifically homophobic...they're just phobic in general.
There was nothing to misinterpret: I just translated it. There are plenty of Estonians who are homophobic. Have you never read any of the comments on Internet forums?
Post a Comment