OUR LATEST ISSUE
Russian Gays walk proud on IDAHO with no protest
Rainbow flag
Mini Moscow Pride march takes place
"This was our little IDAHO in Moscow"
To mark IDAHO - the International Day Against Homophobia - on Saturday a gay man and a lesbian walked through Moscow with rainbow flags to show solidarity with the rest of the gay world in the city where previous large-scale marches have ended in homophobic violence, culminating in this year's Pride celebrations being banned by Moscow’s Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
However Nikolai Baev and Anna Komarova, who run a gay Russian gay rights website, decided to have their own Pride march. Their route took them directly past Moscow City Hall, where the violence of the last two Moscow Gay Prides had taken place.
“We were afraid that we would be arrested for walking with the rainbow flags in our hand in front of City Hall,” said Nikolai Baev. “Surprisingly, the two policemen who saw us did not do anything.”
The reaction from the Moscovites they passed was mixed. Some applauded, others were shocked and surprised. They did get some negative comments, with one person calling out, "That’s a faggot flag!" But in general there was no real opposition.
The ban by the Mayor of Saturday’s full Pride march was met with outrage by the organisers, who have called for a criminal investigation. They believe that Mr Luzhkov’s ban is in direct conflict with Article 149 of Russian Criminal Code. This law states that officials who prevent public demonstrations by using their position could face a three-year prison sentence.
Nikolai Alekseev, Moscow Pride’s main organizer, believes that Mr Luzhkov should be penalized for what he calls continued “lawlessness”.
“The ban of Saturday's event is just more evidence that gays and lesbians are not allowed to conduct any public events in the capital, in any place and with any number of participants,” he said.
“We wanted to express our civil position and raise the issue of the systematic breaches of our rights by Moscow authorities, but we were again denied to right to do it.”
The Mayor has previously said that gay rights marches are “Satanic.”
