Press Release
December 18, 2003
Stockholm -- The 4th Moonbow International Homo Culture & Human
Rights Festival 2004 is spreading out on both sides of the Baltic Sea
--promoting international solidarity and opening doors instead of
creating commercial, dog-tag profit-hungry ghettos.
On the eastern side of the Baltic, Moonbow 2004 will begin in St.
Petersburg (June 5-6) -- with a special ceremony marking the end of the
year-long Amnesty International Russian campaign which failed to take
up homo rights. Moonbow light will again shine on Tallinn (August 7-8)
and Riga (August 14-15) with a Moonset in Minsk, the capital of the
dictatorship of Belarus (August 28-29).
On the western side of the Baltic, Moonbow in the Swedish capital
this year will take a pioneering departure beyond the sidelines of the
Stockholm Pride by hosting Moonbow cabarets in the spring (April 24),
the summer (August 28), and the winter (November 27) .
A well-known sculpture at a downtown bridge in St. Petersburg – site of the Moonbow festival 2004
’moonrise’ and ”Blue Amnesty”
ceremony marking the failure of Amnesty International to take up homo questions.
Alternative for those against Paying for Solidarity
"We want to continue supporting alternatives to those Prides
which create artificial, provincial ghettos mostly for young, white
males -- happy to buy their way into a twilight zone free from those
who can't afford the expensive dog-tags and prices -- women, refugees, the low-salaried, the unemployed and visitors from Eastern Europe," says Bill Schiller, Moonbow festival co-ordinator.
On the sidelines of 'Pride' period itself, Moonbow events
will include the 2nd Nordic Queer Film Days in co-operation with
Folkets Bio, Zita and the Nordic Council's information office, Norden i Fokus.
Also to be included are the annual reception of Moonbow
supporters, the Nordic Rainbow Humanists and HAI (homosexual cultural workers in Nordic sections of Amnesty International) (July 29), and the 'Green Moonbow' (August 1) with music, art and discussions at Hermans outdoor garden café overlooking Stockolm harbor harbor.
