World Shows Solidarity with Russian Gays. Call for protests outside Russian Embassies



Two gay and one ‘gay-friendly’ Euro mayors to meet Moscow Mayor next week. Government official indicates Mayor has no legal basis to ban Pride march

Gay men and women in Russia are tonight very encouraged at the world-wide response to the homophobic outbursts of religious leaders and the Mayor of Moscow during the week, with the Mayor proclaiming that Moscow Pride in May was a non-starter.

Condemnation of the outbursts, coupled with messages of solidarity with Russian gays, has come from across Europe – and as far a field as New Zealand.

In Paris, Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) called for protest demonstrations outside Russian Embassies worldwide on March 2.

Within hours, IDAHO groups in France and UK both announced they would be staging protests in Paris and London. And they were swiftly followed by Poland who pledged support in Warsaw, one of several European cities that has its own Pride “problems”.

British MEP Michael Cashman, who is president of the European Parliament’s ‘intergroup’ on gay and lesbian rights, spoke out condemning the statements that have come from Moscow during the week.

“I will be raising this with the Human Rights Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament, as well as the Commission,” he said. “This kind of language and behaviour is totally unacceptable and gives an appalling insight into the discrimination, hatred and intolerance that the LGBT community face every day in Russia.”

In Berlin, the openly gay mayor Klaus Wowereit was preparing for the second summit meeting of the “M4” – a meeting between the mayors of Berlin, London, Moscow and Paris – scheduled for Wednesday February 22.

Normally, the meeting would have been a routine affair, with few eyebrows raised. But following this week’s homophobic statement from Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the summit could well attract considerable interest.

In addition to Berlin’s gay mayor, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, is also openly gay, while London’s Ken Livingstone is very “gay friendly”. All three cities have large annual Gay Pride Parades.

Appeals have already been made to the three mayors to tackle Mr. Luzhkov over his remarks about Moscow Pride, with a spokesman for Mr. Delanoe’s office in Paris saying the mayor would certainly have something to say if asked at the post summit press conference.

In Moscow itself, Pride organisers have been busy all day being interviewed by the foreign media, including RTL and BBC.

But they found time to file a complaint at the General Prosecutor’s (Attorney General) office about the statements of Supreme Mufti of the Central Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Russia, Talgat Tajuddin.

Pride organisers asked that a criminal prosecution be started against him on the basis of inciting hatred towards a social group which is covered by Article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia.

IDAHO-UK co-ordinator Derek Leonard said that the first Moscow Pride was of enormous importance not only in Russia itself but also to the LGBT communities in the Baltic and Eastern European countries.

“All those who are able to take the freedom to organise Pride for granted will surely want show their support for the LGBT community in Moscow,” he said.

Mr. Leonard added that he hoped there would be massive solidarity for Russian gays at IDAHO-UK’s protest at the Russian Embassy in London on March 2.

Louis-Georges Tin pointed out that the Mayor of Moscow was wrong in his statement that the majority of Muscovites were against gays and the proposed Pride.

“A recent poll found that 51% of Russians thought that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as all other people,” he pointed out.

“These political and religious statements are clearly threatening human rights and diffusing hatred in the whole country.

“Many Russian citizens and many activists from all over the world are expected in Moscow in May. Additionally, several artists and politicians from UK, Belgium, France, Holland and Brazil are also going to be in Moscow for Pride.”

Back in Moscow, Nikolai Alekseev, one of the Pride organisers, went into the ‘lions den’ for a live radio interview on CITY FM, which takes the ‘side’ of the Mayor.

Alekseev astounded the programme’s presenter when he accused the radio station of siding with those who breached human rights.

Echo Moskvy, the independent – and popular – radio station is supporting the idea of Moscow Gay Pride. The head of the radio station Alexey Venediktov suggested that those who objected to the gay parade might consider getting out of town for the day, or stay at home.

Journalist Natalia Gevorkyan was “outraged” at the recent statements, while respected TV commentator Evgeniy Kiselev commented that there “was an equals sign between homophobia and Nazism”.

Matvei Ganapolskiy, another famous broadcaster suggested on Echo Moskvy that the statement of the Mufti was “illegal, and he must be sued for that”.

And as the Russian weekend started the first indirect reaction came from the federal authorities.

One of the most famous Russian attorneys at law and doctor of law, who is also a representative of the Russian government in Constitutional Court, said on Echo Moskvy that he was shocked by the words of the Mufti and that the first thing he had in his mind was to take part in the pride himself “even though I am not gay at all”.

He indicated that the Moscow Mayor has no legal basis to ban the Pride.

Tomorrow, Alekseev is scheduled to be on Echo Moskvy alongside a more moderate Mufti. The talk show will be presented by Andrei Cherkizov, one of the few openly gay public figures in Russia. Cherkizov was the former Minister of Information in the Boris Yeltsin era.

Read more on www.gayrussia.ru/en