The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania celebrate LGBTQ+ pride together every year with a celebratory march – and this year, it included a special shoutout to Ukraine, too.
The annual Baltic Pride parade has been bringing together queer communities in the “three Baltic sisters” since the mid-2000s.
According to a TikTok shared by Openly News, it began after the Latvian capital Riga started to organise its first queer marches almost 20 years ago.
The activists there faced significant backlash and sometimes violence. It was even opposed by the-then prime minister of Latvia, Aigars Kalvitis – he said it was “unacceptable” to promote “things like that”.
The event went ahead – but only once a court overturned a council ban on it – only for the deputy mayor of the city to resign in protest.
The march itself was a remarkable display of LGBTQ+ solidarity, with just a few dozen participants outnumbered by hundreds of protesters.
Police even had to intervene to alter the march route and form a chain around the marchers to protect them from disruptors.
It was disturbed again the following year by anti-LGBTQ+ groups.
So, campaigners from the three small countries united in 2009 and decided to collaborate on a parade which would rotate location every year instead.
This year it took place in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, and in 2024 it will return to Riga. It will also be held in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius in the future.
And, although all of the participating countries are former Soviet states, the Baltics have been particularly vocal in their support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion – so plenty of activists marched for queer Ukrainians too.
Around 7,000 people reportedly joined this year’s march on June 10, under the parade’s motto: “One for all and all for equality.”
Ambassadors and diplomats from other countries joined in too, including leading Estonian public figures.
Though attitudes have improved across the region over recent years, ILGA-Europe has pointed out that the area still has a long way to go in terms of achieving queer equality – meaning this celebration of LGBTQ+ identities is even more important.
Take a look at some of the uplifting photos and footage shared on social media here: