This day in history - June 29th
2002:
First Gay Pride Parade in Croatia
1974:
Isabela Perón takes office as Argentine president
1972:
US Supreme Court
strikes down death penalty
2002:
First Gay Pride Parade in Croatia...
In
June 2002 the first Gay Pride Parade was
organized in Croatia.
It gathered several hundreds people. The participants came from various walks of life - politicians, public figures, NGO representatives as well as gay population. The parade was attacked by extremists who threw eggs, tear gas and bottles and tried to discourage participants by shouting insulting remarks like "Fags to Camps", "Death to Homosexuals", even raised their hands in fascistic greeting.
Although
only a few hundred people walked in a parade, protected by the police
force, the first Gay Pride Parade was still considered a success by the
media for the sole reason that it was held.
Sanja Sarnavka, B.a.B.e. coordinator was one of the speakers at the parade.
Source: B.a.B.e.
Be active, Be emancipated -
B.a.B.e.
is
a Women's Human Rights Group working in Croatia. The word "Babe" (Bah-beh)
in Croatian also means "old hag," a pejorative term for an old woman.
The women of B.a.B.e. want to give new meaning
to this ugly name that is used against women.
1974:
Isabela Perón takes office as Argentine president...
With Argentine President Juan Perón on his
deathbed, Isabela Martinez de Perón, his wife and vice president,
is sworn in as the leader of the South American country. President Isabela
Perón, a former dancer and Perón's third wife, was the Western
Hemisphere's first female head of government. Two days later, Juan died
from heart disease, and Isabela was left alone as leader of a nation suffering
from serious economic and political strife.
In 1943, as an army officer, Juan Domingo Perón joined a military coup against Argentina's ineffectual civilian government. Appointed secretary of labor, his influence grew, and in 1944 he also became vice president and minister of war. In October 1945, Perón was ousted from his positions by a coup of constitutionally minded civilians and officers, and he was imprisoned, but appeals from workers and his charismatic mistress, Eva Duarte, soon forced his release. The night of his release, October 17, he addressed a crowd of some 300,000 people from the balcony of the presidential palace and promised to lead the people to victory in the coming presidential election. Four days later, Perón, a widower, married Eva Duarte, or "Evita," as she became affectionately known.
As president, Perón constructed an impressive populist alliance, and his vision of self-sufficiency for Argentina won him wide support. However, he also became increasingly authoritarian, jailing political opponents and restricting freedom of the press. In 1952, his greatest political resource, Evita, died, and support for him dissolved. Three years later, he was ousted in a military coup. In 1973, after 18 years of exile, he returned to Argentina and won the presidency again. His third wife, Isabela Martinez de Perón, was elected as vice president and in 1974 succeeded him upon his death.
President Isabela
Perón was unable to command the support of any powerful group,
let alone construct a necessary coalition, and the political and economic
situation in Argentina worsened. On March 24, 1976, following a sharp
rise in political terrorism and guerrilla activity, the military deposed
Isabela Peron and instituted one of the bloodiest regimes in South American
history. Isabela Peron was imprisoned for five years on a charge of abuse
of property and upon her release in 1981 settled in Madrid.
1972:
US Supreme Court
strikes down death penalty...
The United
States' debate on the morality and efficacy of capital punishment
reached an important juncture on June 29, 1972. The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled the death penalty unconstitutional because in some cases it
violated the Eighth Amendment, which protects citizens from "cruel
and unusual punishment."
In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as "cruel and unusual punishment," primarily because states employed execution in "arbitrary and capricious ways," especially in regard to race. It was the first time that the nation's highest court had ruled against capital punishment. However, because the Supreme Court suggested new legislation that could make death sentences constitutional again, such as the development of standardized guidelines for juries that decide sentences, it was not an outright victory for opponents of the death penalty.
In 1976, with 66 percent of Americans still supporting capital punishment, the Supreme Court acknowledged progress made in jury guidelines and reinstated the death penalty under a "model of guided discretion." In 1977, Gary Gilmore, a career criminal who had murdered an elderly couple because they would not lend him their car, was the first person to be executed since the end of the ban. Defiantly facing a firing squad in Utah, Gilmore's last words to his executioners before they shot him through the heart were, "Let's do it."
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Channel's "This Day
in History"
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Page last updated June 29, 2003