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Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr has written to his Moscow counterpart Sergey Sobyanin urging him to reconsider the city's ban on gay pride marches.
Gay Pride Reykjávik. Photo by Candy Caldwell.
In August Moscow's top court upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. Officials argue that the gay parade would risk causing public disorder and that most citizens do not support the event, bbc.co.uk reports.
In the letter, Jón writes that Reykjavík's Gay Pride festival has had a positive impact on the city's image and on the attitude of the public towards the LBGT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) community and is now one of the city's biggest outdoor festivals.
"The festival has given the citizens of Reykjavík a change of heart and has led to a more progressive society – not only for LGBT people (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-sexual), but for all Icelanders," Jón explains. "It has drawn attention to Reykjavík around the world as a city of human rights, and Icelanders are proud to be able to show the world that they live in a society that supports human rights," the letter reads.
"People of all ages come together and celebrate the diversity of human kind. The festival is characterized by positive attitude and joy but the purpose is serious: to ensure that all people enjoy human rights, regardless of sexual orientation."
ZR
This year’s free English-language travel guide Around Iceland has been released, the 38th year in a row. The guide is also published in Icelandic and German and is distributed in 100,000 copies to the country’s most frequented tourist destinations.
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An international group of divers recently traveled to Þingvellir National Park in Southwest Iceland to explore this unique diving destination. A Polish guide, Michail Zinieuricz, who works for the DIVE.is, led the team of North Americans and a French couple.
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Iceland’s northernmost island is no longer one island. In a recent surveillance excursion to the Kolbeinsey, the Icelandic Coast Guard discovered that the island is now divided in two.
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Iceland is among the top five OECD-countries where immigrants help to boost the economy and increase nation-wide production by approximately 1 percent, according to a new report from the OECD.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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