English introduction | Program Guide
The culture of gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual people - GLBT people - will be celebrated and presented in Tampere from 7 to 10 July. Ms Satu Hassi, Member of European Parliament, will be the patron of the PRIDE 2005 event.
The event offers something for GLBT people from all age groups, from across Finland and beyond. Among other things, you can join in discussions, see works of art and enjoy movies. Approximately 2,000 people are expected to come along.
The event will be kicked off on Thursday 7 July with the panel discussion entitled "Are they queer or what?!". This is actually the topic of the entire PRIDE 2005 event. The panelists are public figures who contribute to and specialise in the public images of GLBT people in the media.
On Saturday 9 July the PRIDE parade will decorate the heart of Tampere with the colours of the rainbow. The parade will be followed by the PRIDE festival hosted by the actress Tiina Lymi, and the closet doors will keep banging.
The annual PRIDE event reflects the GLBT people's need to express their right to exist and crystallises the essence of the GLBT culture that enriches the surrounding society.
PRIDE events taking place all over the world serve as a forum for making the culture of sexual and gender minorities visible for the mainstream population. The aim is to promote tolerance by way of showing that gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual people are, in fact, ordinary people with their ups and downs, just like anyone.
These events originate in the liberation movement of the sexual and gender minorities. This movement aims at promoting the recognition of sexual and gender diversity in society and advocating equal rights for GLBT people and the mainstream population.
In Finland the first events were arranged with the title 'vapautuspäivät' ('liberation days') until the international title PRIDE was introduced at the beginning of the new millennium.
Lots of stereotypes concerning sexual and gender minorities appear both among the mainstream population and within these minorities themselves. Instead of focusing on stereotypes, the PRIDE 2005 event is built around the idea that gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people are, first of all, human beings - ordinary people of different ages, with different looks, interested in different things and going through different situations. In today's media, more and more publicity is given to sexual and gender minorities, and this publicity is increasingly given for the purpose of entertainment. Therefore it is time to ask: Is publicity always good? Does the image conveyed by the media reflect every colour of the rainbow? Do we all match the impression created by the trendy lesbians and the stylish gay men on TV and in the magazines? Is it OK to be ordinary if you are a member of minority, or is every member of a minority expected to stand out from the mainstream population in order to be recognised as a proper gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans person?
These issues are the building blocks for PRIDE 2005 in Tampere. Our common aim has been to create an event offering information, entertainment and culture for GLBT people of all kinds and ages and for people interested in the GLBT culture.
In the spirit of the topic "Are they queer or what?!", Nina Dannert took a set of photographs featuring ordinary people in their everyday chores, tasks and hobbies. You can see her photos in the posters, on the website and in the exhibition that is open during the PRIDE event.
