A May 16 “pride” march in downtown Rīga by supporters of sexual minorities is on again after a Latvian court overturned a ban on the event.

The Administrative District Court in Rīga ruled May 15 that the Rīga City Council’s Commission on Meetings, Marches and Demonstrations erred when it decided to disallow the march, Latvian media report.

The march, scheduled to begin in the Vērmaņdārzs park and then move into surrounding streets, is being organized by the Mozaīka organization as part of Baltic Friendship Days. City officials originally had approved the event. After conservative politicians and religious leaders complained about the decision, the commission on May 14 cited security concerns when it decided to halt the march.

Mozaīka, an organization that advocates for the rights of gays, lesbian, bisexuals and transgender people, appealed to the administrative court.

In a statement applauding the court’s decision, Mozaīka said it hopes the event will be peaceful.

A group representing sexual minorities in Latvia has appealed a decision by Rīga officials to ban a planned May 16 march in the city’s downtown.

Mozaīka, a Rīga-based organization advocating for the rights of gays, lesbian, bisexuals and transgender people, has been organizing the Baltic Friendship Days event. The march was scheduled to begin at noon in the Vērmaņdārzs park and then move into surrounding streets.

Mozaīka filed its appeal May 14 with the Administrative District Court in Rīga asking it to overturn a decision by the Rīga City Council’s Commission on Meetings, Marches and Demonstrations disallowing the parade.

The city commission initially approved the march on May 8, but repealed its decision on May 14 citing security concerns.

“We believe this decision to be unlawful, without any legal justification whatsoever, and based on political pressure,” Mozaīka said in a press release.

The commission suggested Mozaīka could hold the march just in the park without going into surrounding streets, or along 11th November Shoreline. Mozaīka, however, rejected the alternatives, arguing the commission’s decision “have no legal justification.”

Numerous conservative politicians and religious leaders protested the commission’s initial approval of the march. In an open letter to Rīga Mayor Jānis Birks, the Rev. Jānis Šmits on May 12 wrote that the commission’s approval was illegal and against the wishes of the majority of city residents. He called on the mayor to overturn the decision and to sack Rīga City Administrator Andris Grīnbergs. Šmits, a member of the conservative First Party of Latvia (Latvijas Pirmā partija), posed a question to Birks: “In whose interests does the Rīga council work—those of 50 amoral homosexuals or those of 1 million Rīga inhabitants?”

Linda Freimane, chair of Mozaīka, said in a statement that the city council had yielded to political pressure.

“All of this foments hatred in Latvia,” she said, “and causes Latvia to become an object of mockery among other European countries.”

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers has begun a weeklong working visit to the United States that will include meetings with government officials and politicians, speaking to Baltic-Americans and participating in an ethnic school’s commencement ceremony.

The president’s agenda, according to his press office, begins May 14 with a speech to the U.S.-Baltic Foundation’s business development conference in Washington, D.C. The conference is part of the foundation’s annual Gala weekend program.

The same day the president is set to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California; Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe; Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio.

He also will visit the Latvian Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he will view the art exhibit “Latvian Dimensions: Contemporary Installations and Sculpture” and present Latvian state honors to a number of U.S. officials and Latvian-American community activists.
 
On May 15, the president is slated to visit The Brooking Institution, where he will present a speech, “Opportunities and Challenges Beyond 2009: The Role of Transatlantic Partnership in a Post-Economic Crisis World.” The presentation is scheduled from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington. Also on the schedule is a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a speech during a reception for the U.S.-Baltic Foundation’s Gala.
 
The next day, May 16, sees the president speaking at the opening of the Joint Baltic American National Committee’s conference on Baltic security. In the evening, Zatlers will speak again during the U.S.-Baltic Foundation’s Gala, when he will be the guest of honor.

Before leaving May 17 for Seattle, the president and First Lady Lilita Zatlers will attend a Family Day church service and Latvian school commencement ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. in the Latvian Ev. Latvian Lutheran Church of Washington, 400 Hurley Ave., Rockville, Md.

On the West Coast, Zatlers is scheduled May 18 to visit the University of Washington, where among other agenda items he is to visit with Assistant Professor Guntis Šmidchens and students in the Baltic Studies Program. Later in the day he will meet with the Seattle Latvian community at the Latvian Cultural Center, 11710 Third Ave. N.E., Seattle.

The president on May 19 will visit Microsoft Corp. and meet with company CEO Steve Ballmer. Zatlers also is to meet with Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who is president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program. Finally, Zatlers is to speak to the World Affairs Council at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle. To register for the event, telephone the World Affairs Council at +1 (206) 441-5910. Tickets are USD 10 for council members and for students, USD 20 for nonmembers.

The First Lady’s schedule during the U.S. trip includes a tour of a Ronald McDonald House Charities mobile assistance center in Washington, D.C. A similar project could be implemented in Latvia, according to the president’s press office.

Mrs. Zatlers, who is patroness of a boarding school and developmental center for children with hearing difficulties in Valmiera, will visit similar schools in the Washington area. Among these are Key Elementary School, which has integrated students with special educational needs, and Gallaudet University, where she will learn about a program for children with hearing loss.

Also in the nation’s capital, Mrs. Zatlers is to visit the Newseum, a museum about journalism and the news industry, where she will present the book Latvia Under the Rule of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, 1940-1991 as a gift from the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. The First Lady also will tour the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
 
In Seattle, Mrs. Zatlers will accompany the president when he meets with the Latvian community and when he visits Microsoft.