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07.06.07

At homo in Vilnius

A message from Stefan, after the bands performance at the Upa Arena in Vilnius, Lithuania last week :

'Every year the EU sends a bus around Europe to promote anti-discrimination rallies. This year in May the mayor of Vilnius banned it from entering the capital city of Lithuania. The reasons for this, he said was that it would cause riots and unrest. He has in the past supported actions that have put a stop to pro tolerance of minorities and sexual orientation in the workspace.

As we were touring Russia and the former eastern block we realized from the news and from people we met that this is not uncommon in these areas. We felt that we had to do something. We had a voice and since homosexuality is not illegal, nothing that we were to do would seriously jeopardize the tour.

So for the show in Vilnius, I took to writing ‘HOMO’ on my chest and in front of thousands me and Brian shared a long kiss. It was our act of public display of homosexuality, which isn’t our first time (!) and not something that is very shocking to most of us. But it seems that a lot of work is still needed for this discrimination to disappear. In our way, we did our bit that night.'