Proud at Pride

Cheap, warm beer in plastic cups. An astronomical queue to get into even the seediest of gay bars. The glittering, generally false promise of fresh meat on the scene... it can be difficult to rally enthusiasm for Pride these days, or to remember why we bother going.

So, for those of you all too familiar with the joys and sorrows of Pride attendance, we hereby offer some human rights reasons to support queer visibility across the globe.

Let's not move to ...

Iran, a country where male and female homosexual acts are illegal. Those convicted face corporal punishment and the death penalty.

Trinidad and Tobago, where male and female homosexual acts are illegal and carry a sentence of up to twenty-five years in prison.

South Carolina, USA - this state has gone further than many in the US and has officially banned gay marriages as a way of also preventing civil unions.

Latvia, where the country's constitution was altered to prevent same-sex marriage and where Pride was banned in 2006 in Riga after threats from Christians and neo-Nazis. Latvia was the last country in the EU to introduce a ban on discrimination at work.

Pride is also banned in Moscow, Russia and Chisinau, Moldova, among other places.

Let's be glad about …

Spain: full marriage and adoption rights. If this Catholic country can do it, what's our excuse?

The draft Human Tissues and Embryos Bill currently under consideration at Westminster. Among other things, the Bill proposes getting rid of the requirement for clinics to consider the need for a father when deciding on treatment. This means clinics will no longer be able to deny treatment to same-sex female couples and single mothers out of hand. It also contains parenthood provisions for civil partners and other same-sex couples.

Marija Serifovic, Serbian winner of Eurovision, and out lesbian. Coming from a country where lesbian and gay people are still banned from military service and have no adoption or civil partnership/marriage rights, Marija nonetheless swept the camp-fest with her dyke torch song to melt even the stoniest of hearts. A moment to make us all feel, even fleetingly, proud.