On Saturday, June 29, Helsinki Pride took place, with no less than 100,000 participants, as is traditionally the case.
The Pride march began at noon at Senate Square, lasted over three hours, and concluded with mass festivities in Kaivopuisto. Numerous public and commercial organizations and trade unions participated in the Pride, including representatives from Initiative FoReDi.
As usual, there was a governmental contingent in the march, but two ministries led by members of the True Finns party refused to participate. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo also did not participate in the Pride, but former Prime Minister Sanna Marin was present. The government contingent marched at the front of the parade, right behind SETA — the largest non-governmental organization defending human rights and sexual minorities in Finland, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
A key feature of this year’s Pride was a performance organized by LGBT people from Russia who have sought asylum in Finland. They brought up the rear of the SETA contingent and marched just ahead of the government group. The performers carried a banner with a quote from the asylum denial decision for an LGBT couple and torn, stained rainbow flags. The performers wore makeup depicting bruises. The quote can be translated as follows:
“The Immigration Service does not believe that you would be in danger in Russia.”
“We want to show the contrast between what is written in the decision from the Immigration Service denying asylum, and how we actually look. To show the contrast between reality and bureaucratic procedures, highlighting that sometimes bureaucracy fails to see the real situation,”
— said one of the performers, activist and asylum seeker Alexander Nesterov.
The LGBT couple who was denied asylum is currently awaiting an appeal in court. They did not participate in the performance but marched in the support group, carrying signs.
“First, this may be my last Pride if I am deported to Russia. Secondly, we really want to show people who don’t know what’s happening in Russia that LGBT people are oppressed there, and that Migri is doing nothing about it,”
— said activist Viktoria Tsvetkova, whose quote from Migri was used on the banner by the performance organizers.
SETA has requested information from the Immigration Service regarding Russia, upon which Migri bases its decisions. According to a representative of SETA, this information is outdated and does not reflect the real situation in the country. The human rights organization is now preparing a letter to the Immigration Service, along with reports on the situation of LGBT people in Russia, compiled by human rights organizations.
“We strongly oppose the denial of asylum to LGBT people from Russia, and we also question the basis on which these negative decisions have been made,”
— said SETA board member John Kay.
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