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| Mato Dauginio/15min.lt nuotr./Irena is one of the people to appear in the video ads |
"I do not like it that I cannot introduce my life partner to my colleagues. I am a lesbian. I support the Baltic Pride, as I want to live an open life," on of the participants of the ad campaign, Irena, 59, said in front of the camera on Sunday afternoon.
The videos were shot by a team headed by director François Message in Europos Square. The Lithuanian Gay League, the main organizer behind the Baltic Pride, said the filming was sponsored by the French Embassy and the Institut français.
"I believe the problem is due to lack of awareness. After meeting with LGBT people, you realize everything is fine," the 26-year-old director living in Lyon told BNS.
Organizers hope that the videos will be broadcast by Lithuania's television channels in July, in the run-up to the July 27 parade. Judicial proceedings are in progress between the organizers and Vilnius municipality about the venue of the event.
"We want LGBT people to be visible in the society. There is very little social campaigning on the topic in Lithuania. We think the advertisement campaign should boost tolerance in the society," Vladimir Simonko, the leader of the Lithuanian Gay League, told BNS.
In a poll published in March, 62 percent of Lithuanian residents said they were against the LGBT pride event.
The first gay march in 2010 took place in Vilnius on Upės Street. The location was cordoned off and protected as about a thousand people gathered to protest against the event.
Nevertheless, Simonko said that the rally increased public tolerance of sexual minorities.
