Belfast Pride Parade Petitioning

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Wednesday July 27, 2005 15:47

by Paul McAndrew

The basis for the difficulty around this year's Belfast Pride Parade is
that the 'Stop The Parade Coalition' - an amalgam of various shades of
Christian fundamentalism - by campaigning against, denouncing, and
opposing the parade, has resulted in the parade being designated
"contentious" by the PSNI

Belfast Pride Parade Petitioning
Hi,
. As such, the Pride Parade is thereby subsumed
into the same legal arena as the Drumcree march, the Apprentice Boy's
Parade in Derry, and all the other marches in Northern Ireland that incite
sectarian tensions and require legal adjudication. It is an astute
political move by the 'Stop The Parade Coalition' since, unable to drum up
sufficient public support to oppose the parade in previous years, they
have now found a legal means whereby an extremist religious minority can
impinge upon others' right to freedom of assembly. An adjudication in the
'Stop The Parade Coalition's' favour would be seen as an endorsement of
these bullying tactics, and, consequently, set a dangerous and problematic
precedent for the future.
If you decide to respond to the following request, it is imperative that
you do so today, as the determination about the parade will be made
tomorrow.

What follows is a brief extract from the Belfast Pride Parade's website,
and the address to which e-mails in support of the Belfast Pride Parade
should be sent.

Paul Madden

Paul Madden (Outreach Worker & Trainer)
Southern Gay Men's Health Project
8 South Main St.
Cork
Ireland

Phone: + 353 21 4278470 / 1
Fax: + 353 21 4278745

HELPLINE: (021) 4271087

www.gayhealthproject.com - The most comprehensive Gay/Bisexual men's site
in Ireland.

The Southern Gay Men's Health Project provides information, support, and
education on issues relating to sexual health and sexuality. Our services
include, one-to-one counselling, support, drop-in, prevention advice,
outreach, helpline, referral service, addiction services, and support and
self-awareness groups.

Office Hours: 9.00am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Annual Belfast Pride Parade

There has been much media attention over the past number of weeks
regarding this year's Belfast Pride Parade.

This is because some Christian groups have objected to a Pride Parade
taking place through the City Centre on the grounds that they disapprove
of our "sinful and immoral lifestyle". As such, the Parades' Commission
will make a determination on the Pride Parade on 28th July because the
police have deemed the parade as being "contentious".

You can show your support for Belfast Pride by emailing your views to the
Parades' Commission directly.

If you decide to email the Parades' Commission, please remember that you
are emailing an official adjudicating body and NOT the people who want to
ban our parade. So please be polite, courteous and sensible. If you do the
opposite, you will be supporting the cause of the anti-gay Christian
groups in their attempts to stop our parade.

The e-mail address of the Parades' Commission is:
info@paradescommission.com
__________________
Southern Gay Men's Health Project
8 South Main St., Cork, Ireland

Phone +353 21 4278470 / 1
HELPLINE (021) 4271087

Website www.gayhealthproject.com

E-mail info@gayhealthproject.com