Maris Sants: Homophobia forced me out of Latvia
RIGA – The Open House blog at UK’s Independent newspaper published interesting entry from Maris Sants, a gay pastor who left Latvia for the UK last month. Sadly, his story isn’t unique. Public homosexuality is still seen as propaganda of sexual deviance here in Latvia.
Here’s what Maris writes:
Before I came out in 2002, the rumours about my sexuality had already had huge ramifications on my life. I was a pastor in the Latvian church and I had a column in the church newspaper and that was stopped. My weekly radio sermon was taken off the air, and I was kicked out of the cathedral I served in.
On 22 May 2002, I was ex-communicated from the church. Back then there were only three openly gay people in Latvia. My story was on the front pages of all the Latvian newspapers and I have suffered dozens of personal attacks since then. I have been verbally abused, spat at and physically attacked. Last year, two guys ambushed me as I went to baptise a child. Since then my sight started to deteriorate, which my doctor blamed squarely on the stress caused by the attacks.
Read the whole thing. On the photo: protesters against gay pride parade pile up at the fence at the November 11 Embankment in Riga in June 2008.
July 6th, 2008 at 21.48
Alek,
I am sorry to say it, but this is where your attitude toward gays and human rights leads. People as second class and being pushed out.
tom
July 7th, 2008 at 11.13
tom, i havent the foggiest idea of what you’re talking about. please explain how ideas about human rights lead to people being pushed out? perhaps its better to have some violent justice dispensed by some jack-booted thugs, as opposed to law and order.
/m
July 7th, 2008 at 12.09
Mikelis,
Actually you misread me. I am in favour of full and total equivalence of rights for all- including rights of full participation, employment, marriage etc.
What I was saying refers to other statements that Aleks has made elswewhere- for example http://latviansonline.com/index.php/forum/viewthread/33161/P15/#37968
This attitude, which I will sum up as “I like gays, but they should stay in closets where they belong” ultimately leads to people such as Maris Sants and others (including a friend of mine) to make the difficult decision to leave Latvia.
July 7th, 2008 at 12.18
Tom,
I’m afraid you misinterpreted my post on LOL. I think it’s too easy to take a side - be it the attitude of “I like gays, but they should stay in the closet” or the attitude of equality for all. The problem of the Latvian society with homosexuality go beyond just the Soviet occupation. And my post on LOL tried to sound out some questions I have about gay rights in Latvia and public attitude toward them. It was not a condemnation of either side - I was just using my right to ask some questions.
July 7th, 2008 at 12.22
Alek,
Sorry, but no. I did not misinterpret. You did not only “ask some questions” you made a basic observation that everything would be okay if gays just stayed quiet. That leads to Maris and others having to leave when they have the nerve to be, even modestly, public.
July 7th, 2008 at 12.25
Technically, no. It’s not the coming out that made people like Maris leave. It’s public intolerance, insults, throwing of the feces. I condemn that wholeheartedly. Nothing in my comments even manged to justify the violence that pushes people, like Maris, out of Latvia.
I did make a basic observation and thought out loud.
July 7th, 2008 at 14.26
You are exactly right. The comments do not justify directly, but it is the comments and the attitude that are used by the intolerant to justify. The questions are loaded, they throw responsibility back on the victims. Maybe if those faggots had just been quiet everything would have been alright? Sorry no.
Try this question on- maybe the world would be a better place if there were no Jews? Just a question.
July 7th, 2008 at 14.52
The intolerant may use anything to justify their intolerance. I’m not an advocate for either side. I’m on the quest. I’m trying to learn more about the Latvian psyche. I’m also trying to find out how deep the intolerance and discrimination against gays penetrates the Latvian society on a daily basis, not just during the gay pride parade. I’d be interested in speaking with some knowledge people about it and most certainly will in the near future.
At this point, however, I separate between issues like ethnicity (Jews) and sexual orientation (gays). I haven’t read as extensively on it, but my amateur uneducated opinion is that it appears to be that psychologists cannot come to a conclusion what causes homosexuality, mainly whether it’s something you’re born with, or something you acquire. The reason for the lack of agreement, I suspect, is exactly as you said, the questions are loaded and have dire consequences for either camp. Depending how you answer those questions, you can construct the rest of the view pretty easy.
For me, personally, if professionals cannot come to a conclusion, I certainly don’t know the answer to the question whether homosexuality is a learned or inherited behavior. Until I can answer that question, I cannot draw an equal sign between gays and Jews.
July 7th, 2008 at 17.35
Try this question on- maybe the world would be a better place if there were no Jews? Just a question.
SAS launches gay website. Would SAS also consider launching a Jew Web site? Just asking.
July 7th, 2008 at 21.30
Before I come back to your SAS question… Just so I am clear- it is okay to discriminate against people who have “acquired” traits that you disagree with? Is that the basics of it?
The consensus today seems to be that sexuality (of all sorts) seems to be acquired in-utero. But, whether it is acquired or not, does not to me seem to have any bearing on whether or not discrimination is okay.
SAS- so you are somehow trying to contrast/compare a marketing decision that a particular firm makes with discrimination or anti-semitism. Is that it? Doesn’t fly. Go online and hunt down the numerous offers made for Jews and others.
August 6th, 2008 at 10.51
The key point to your argument above to me seems to be How Should The Gay Rights Movement in Latvia Proceed to Achieve Success?
You are right to point out that gay clubs in Latvia do not get attacked and shut down.
The problem in Latvia appears to be with the Gay Parades. We have all seen on TV how sexually they can become. Why should the rights of people that don’t want Gay Parades be ignored? (just because it is law)
Why can’t the Gay Rights movement be less aggressive with the tools it uses to assert its rights? (Show some consideration)
It is surprising to me that it is not more obvious to Maris Sants that he was associated with an organisation forcing its rights on the populace of Latvia. This resulted in aggression towards him that the Gay Parades provoked.
You have to get more realistic and be considerate of the people of Latvia to be given consideration. Ranting about your rights and then perverting your rights through a sexual parade does not make the Gay Rights movement in Latvia look like they seriously want acceptance. I think the people of Latvia see the Gay Rights movement in Latvia as an organisation that wants to fight and be aggressive.
Of course I could be wrong but I don’t think I am as i see too many debates on this topic confusing the issues and people are too quick to throw the Homophobic accussation that just kills discussion.
August 6th, 2008 at 18.59
Dean,
Gay clubs in Riga are, though, marginalized and stigmatized. By making this into a big secret (forcing people to stay silent) we then force their behaviour into the dark corners and reinforce a belief that it is, in fact, wrong. Gay behaviour is not wrong.
I have been to enough drunken pilsetas svetki here in beautiful LV to know that gays do not have any sort of lock on off colour behaviour. In fact I would rather a bit of flaming good fun, then drunken follies.
Mosaic and the other orgs in Latvia have never been the violent ones, the anti-praid ones have. Simply looking for an acknowledgment of rights by govt and society is not violent and aggressive.
Clear this up for me- how is it not homophobic to say that the rights afforded to heterosexuals, should not be enjoyed by homosexuals? People in the anti-praid movement don’t say “okay, all in good time” they say “never”.
Is what happened to Mris Sants okay? Is being pushed out because of irrelevant sexuality okay? You still seem to circle back to “he brought it on himself.” Might lead one to think that LV should never have reasserted independence- after all that would be trodding on the “rights” of people not to discuss freedom.
August 7th, 2008 at 9.49
It seems to me though gay prides - celebratory, sexually-charged - as Latvians saw them on TV probably would not become part of the culture here, I suspect. Latvians are generally reserved and introverted. Some people say that Latvians are even very private individuals, more so than, say, people from warmer climates.
And, also, I don’t think Dean was encouraging or even condoning violence by the anti-pride group. It’s not an either-or proposition. It is not if you criticize gay movement, or challenge what, say, Mozaika stand for, you ultimately condone and endorse the behavior of the anti-pride movement.
What happened to Maris Sants is not okay, but, ultimately, the decision to leave was his own.
August 7th, 2008 at 9.56
P.S. I wrote about nopride.lv back in 2007.