Bolotnaya Square, Moscow Photo By Alexander Misharin
By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) OCT 31 | A protest rally organised by Russian political groups with deep ties to the Russian Orthodox church gathered in Bolotnaya Square, in the centre of Moscow yesterday, to decry the October 21st European Court of Human Rights ruling that the former mayor and city officials had violated three articles of the European Convention, of which the Russian Federation is a signatory nation, by banning Gay Pride Parades in the Russian capital city.Russian Gay activist, attorney, and journalist, Nikolai Alexseyev, had brought the suit to the ECHR court following several years of bans and acts of intimidation by city authorities, in particular Mayor Luzhkov, who called Gay pride parades "Satanic acts", and described LGBT persons as "weapons of mass destruction," "faggots" and held them principally responsible for the spread of HIV-AIDS in Moscow.
Vladimir Khomyakov, co-chairman of Narodny Sobor, which translates from Russian as: The People's Gathering, a leading religious-nationalist orthodox organisation at the protest, told a journalist from RIA Novosti:
"Despite the stories about our belligerent homophobia, we have never urged and are not urging to destroy gay clubs and attack gays. We have come to claim that the ECHR ruling is a gross interference in Russia's domestic affairs and a violation of the Russian constitution and international law. He said a gay parade if allowed by the Moscow authorities will cause a conflict between police and people who consider it immoral."Alexseyev responded to Khomyakov's remarks telling a reporter:
"Gay pride parade in Moscow will be! I will never give up the intention to convene a Moscow Gay Pride parade, especially after the verdict of the Court. No protests will not force me to abandon what has been already planned! These Pathetic attempts to trample the law are never going to win!
These Orthodox Russia fascists today put Russia, the Kremlin and, most importantly, a this city a choice- comply with the law in the form of the decision of the European Court of Justice fallowing for a Gay Pride parade, or slip into the Middle Ages, and forget about Europe and human rights. It's very interesting now to observe the situation from the outside. We are now on the side of the law, and all others appear to be outside of the law ..."Police officials in the Russian capital said that roughly 1,000 persons attended yesterday's peaceful gathering and that there were no significant events or arrests reported.
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2 comments:
Still a risky time in Russia. We cannot yet say there that the time of the dinosaur is over.
No we can't Tim. We may have a clearer idea of how many dinosaurs are left after Tuesday's election In the USA. After all don't some of these anti-gay people claim that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time? Wonder how they were able to tell the difference?
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