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LGBT festival in Ukraine abandoned after far-right protest [View all]
Source: The Guardian
LGBT festival in Ukraine abandoned after far-right protest
Rightwing groups surrounded hotel in Lviv where about 70
participants in the equality festival had gathered
Shaun Walker in Moscow
Sunday 20 March 2016 16.42 GMT
An LGBT festival in the Ukrainian city of Lviv had to be abandoned when the venue was surrounded by about 200 members of far-right groups shouting “Kill, kill, kill” on Saturday.
The event, on the theme of equality, was the first of three regional offshoots of a Kiev festival first held in December, said Olena Shevchenko of the NGO Inside, one of the organisers of the event. The programme included film screenings, literary discussions and public events.
The planning had been fraught with difficulties as neither the police nor the authorities of the city, a major tourist centre in western Ukraine, gave their blessing to the festival. Venues then began pulling out, saying they would only allow the events if the mayor of the city gave his approval, otherwise they could not guarantee safety.
“Then, the hotel we had booked for people coming from outside Lviv told us we could not stay there,” said Shevchenko. “When we arrived, the administrator told us the city authorities had told them we were perverts, they had Googled us and said people like us should burn in hell.”
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Rightwing groups surrounded hotel in Lviv where about 70
participants in the equality festival had gathered
Shaun Walker in Moscow
Sunday 20 March 2016 16.42 GMT
An LGBT festival in the Ukrainian city of Lviv had to be abandoned when the venue was surrounded by about 200 members of far-right groups shouting “Kill, kill, kill” on Saturday.
The event, on the theme of equality, was the first of three regional offshoots of a Kiev festival first held in December, said Olena Shevchenko of the NGO Inside, one of the organisers of the event. The programme included film screenings, literary discussions and public events.
The planning had been fraught with difficulties as neither the police nor the authorities of the city, a major tourist centre in western Ukraine, gave their blessing to the festival. Venues then began pulling out, saying they would only allow the events if the mayor of the city gave his approval, otherwise they could not guarantee safety.
“Then, the hotel we had booked for people coming from outside Lviv told us we could not stay there,” said Shevchenko. “When we arrived, the administrator told us the city authorities had told them we were perverts, they had Googled us and said people like us should burn in hell.”
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/20/lgbt-festival-in-ukraine-abandoned-after-far-right-protest
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