At a noontime rally of the Latvian organization NoPride, a self-described anti-homosexual coalition, groups as varied as skinheads, the National Front, the National Bolsheviks, the Union for National Strength and the New Generation Church, staged a rally in front of the parliament building demanding the prohibition of the upcoming march.
Many passersby joined in as anti-homosexual T-shirts were handed out to the crowd, and about 100 people were present at the height of the meeting.
The last attempt to hold a Gay Pride Parade in Riga in 2006 ended in scandal when 10 times as many anti-gay protesters turned up as marchers. Participants were then pelted with rotten eggs and excrement, and more than 10 people were arrested.
The brewing trouble in Latvia mirrors an aborted Gay Pride demonstration in Moscow Sunday that degenerated into a free-for-all, with Russian extremists pummeling and bloodying an English gay rights activist and police detaining two Italian members of the European parliament.
A total of 31 out of 40 activists who turned up to participate were detained when they tried to stage the unsanctioned demonstration in support of sexual minorities outside the Moscow mayor's office. More than 150 journalists were also on hand to observe the event.
