Belarusians at Stockholm gay pride: 'Better To Be Gay Than Dictator'. Lukashenka disagrees
Two dozen people represented Belarus at the gay parade in Stockholm. They were carried a white-red-white flag which is traditionally associated with the opposition to president Lukashenka’s regime and a banner “It is Better To Be A Gay Than A Dictator.”
The activists took part in the parade seeking more tolerant attitude towards the LGBT community, Syarhei Androsenka, the leader of initiative ‘GayBelarus’, said.
“We are mindful of the Belarusian LGBT community that has been living in fear of society and the authorities. We appreciate the contribution of human rights defenders to the formation of a more European and tolerant society in our home country,” Androsenka, who now lives in Sweden, says.
The gay pride parade in Stockholm was held on August, 1.
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The Belarusian President is notorious of condemning gays and same-sex marriages, regarding them as a ‘tragic sign of a general spiritual crisis and the Western world’s blindness’ or ‘roots of evil’.
‘But one should not stifle us – all the sanctions are counterproductive. Dear, don’t make us legalize same-sex marriages. As long as I’m President there will be no fagness in the country,’ he said in April, 2013.
Read also: Lukashenka appeals to EU: No gay marriages in Belarus!
Alyaksandr Lukashenka did not hesitate to have a fling at the sexual orientation of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle when warning Europe of a harsh response to its sanctions in March, 2012.
“It is better to be a dictator than gay. But let him go, rather, the question is that all of us remember the middle of the XXth century and the things that the world got out of their [German – Belsat] dictatorship. Our people still have not come round. That is why it is not them to reproach us for some dictatorship. I have no desire to reason about the subject at all,” Lukashenka said.
Read also: Pride Parade banned in Minsk
