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LGBT News Estonia becomes first former Soviet nation to legalize gay partnerships

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by markosss, Oct 12, 2014.

  1. King

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    Congratulations to them! Good to see some Eastern European nations are progressing.
     
  2. lemons123

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    well in terms of some issues such as animal rights, perception of feminism and women rights, religious tolerance, home ownership etc. : eastern europe beats the west easily on these issues...i mean it's more progressive about these compared to the West.

    BUT...i agree of that homophobia is still a huge problem over there.
     
  3. gibson234

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    A lot of countries in Eastern Europe don't have freedom of expression or a free press. Nor do some have freedom of movement. Lots of them are very racists and minorities are discriminated against. Also women's rights have come pretty far in the West how much further could they have come. Eastern Europe is still a pretty backwards place but still not quite as backwards as the Middle East and Africa.
     
  4. lemons123

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    Some of the things you're saying are indeed true...some are well...propaganda.

    I agree homophobia and racism are HUGE problems in eastern europe. But let's check the rest:

    1. which country has the highest home ownership rate in the whole world: Romania (followed by hungary and lituania): List of countries by home ownership rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    2. Have the 'biggest Westerners'(Americans...) ever had female president?

    President of Lituania: woman,
    Prime minister of Ukraine: woman
    Vice president of bulgaria: woman

    the list goes on...


    3. Is there such a thing as "kill animal shelter" in bulgaria? is it in US?

    more points exist...

    Like i said, certain eastern european country make the west look actually pretty backwards indeed....which is in direct contrast to what you said that "eastern europe is backwards"...doesn't sound very logical.

    At least backup your claims with examples/data like i did. And i mean data (statistics) - not just isolated case of some black guy assaulted in eastern europe because i can give you an example of a black guy killed in UK and then claim that all english people are terribly racist - which is of course classic propaganda...
     
  5. prussianblue100

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    I'm not going to say much on the dispute with the countries other than no country is perfect. We all have our ups and downs. As for the news with Estonia... :eusa_clap
     
  6. lemons123

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    true :slight_smile:.

    On a side note...i just checked it, the prime minister of estonia looks 25 0_0:

    [​IMG]
     
  7. One Man Army

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    Why is that car floating?
     
  8. Harve

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    I agree that racism is still a problem in many Eastern European countries but this simply isn't true. For example Estonia, Slovakia and Czech Republic are some of the freest countries in the world for freedom of speech while even countries outside the EU like Serbia and Moldova (ex-USSR country, poorest country in Europe) are roughly as free as the USA... which to be fair isn't particularly difficult.
     
  9. Tardis2020

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    When they say progressive they mean it.
     
  10. jacknorth1

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    First of all, Estonia and all three Baltic countries are in Northern Europe not Eastern Europe. Estonia is very much like the scandinavian countries and of course there are some people who are homophobic, but isn't there homophobia everywhere? Having been to Estonia numerous times and living very close by, I can say that it's a very modern country and the society(at least in the capital Tallinn) is not all hateful and actually people are pretty nice.

    I'm very shocked how some of you think that there's no freedom in some of the ex-soviet countires while the majority of them are in the European Union and Nato. I think Estonia legalising gay marriage just shows how different they are from Russia and it sends a message, I'm very proud for them!
     
  11. imnotreallysure

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    Firstly, property ownership isn't a signifier of a country being 'progressive'. Whether people buy or rent is a personal choice and often depends on the affordability of local property. The majority of people in Switzerland - the richest country in the world - rent, and don't own their property. I guess it can be explained by Switzerland being extortionately expensive, whereas Romanian property is dirt cheap by comparison because nobody wants to live there. Or it might be down to the fact that not everyone aspires to own their own property and are fine renting for the rest of their life.

    Secondly, the UK, Norway, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Switzerland have all had female leaders, and that shouldn't be used as a measure of gloating because people are elected on the basis of whether they are good enough for the job. If a country hasn't elected a female leader, then maybe no good female leaders have come to surface. Even Sweden has not had a female leader despite 45% of all politicians being female, and it is probably the most gender-equal nation in the world.

    Your last point - in the UK, dogs in shelters are never killed unless they have serious health complications or are in pain. They are never killed because nobody wants them.

    That being said, nations like Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia do very well on freedom and are definitely more gay-friendly than places like Russia or Ukraine, but yes, they are behind Western Europe - this isn't surprising, they were under Soviet influence until 1991.
     
    #12 imnotreallysure, Oct 14, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2014
  12. Quem

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    jacknorth1 is right. Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. If you don't believe me, Google it.

    Well done Estonia!! :icon_bigg
     
  13. MintberryCrunch

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    According to the United Nations Statistics Division, Estonia is considered part of Northern Europe. According to the CIA World Fact Book, Estonia is part of Eastern Europe. But that may have to do with the fact that all former Soviet-nations were considered "Eastern Europe" at one point.

    But I'm just throwing things out there...
     
  14. Pret Allez

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    America is so advanced.
     
  15. Quem

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    You are right, that's strange. Different sites classify Estonia differently. I didn't know that!
     
  16. Stripe101

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    That was so much funnier because of your profile picture. I can't even express how hard I'm laughing. XD
     
  17. Candace

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    I'm glad to hear this! :grin: I hope that they pave the way for their neighbors *cough* Russia *cough* and others like them. (!) (!)

    By the way, their prime minister isn't that bad :wink:.
     
  18. lemons123

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    You're making some valid points, but:

    Switzerland isn't the richest country in the world, though...yes it is among the richest.

    The richest: Monaco, Qatar, closely followed by Luxembourg and Norway and Macau.

    (And yes, quatar - a muslim country). Here for proofs:

    List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Switzerland is 8 and 9 on all three estimations...

    Another thing: Sweden could be gender-friendly but...unfortunately it's bad in Sweden if you aren't white or from some specific countries (including eastern Europe). See here:

    Sweden: the country where racism is just a joke | Jallow Momodou | Comment is free | The Guardian

    So to summarize, large part of the claims that "the west is anti-racist and friendly compared to eastern europe" is often propaganda. Think about when Beligum claimed it "brings civilization to Congo", while actually it wasn't Belgium bringing civilization to africa, it was Belgium stealing diamonds from Africa:

    King Leopold II of Belgium denies accusations of brutality in the Congo Free State | South African History Online