A small but forceful and determined group of around 25 gay Russians and their friends and supporters held a small and brief rally in Moscow on Saturday. Clearly defying a ban by the capital's very very anti-gay authorities.
The numbers were small, but for organizer Nikolai Alekseyev it was a huge success, "Today, for the first time in five years, the Gay Pride was held peacefully in Moscow,” he told a local radio station. “There were no excesses and not a single arrest. This is the first time that no one was detained at a Moscow Gay Pride."
The mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov has repeatedly banned gay demonstration and marches, and has previously described homosexuality as the "work of Satan."
There was an attempt in 2006 to hold the first gay pride event, but this lead to many fights and clashes with police and homophobic anti gay onlookers. Since then, Gay Pride rallies have been marked with violence, homophobia and arrests.
This year they escaped the violence and arrests, simply by changing the location at the last moment and keeping it a small group of core supporters, They managed to march for about ten minutes on a popular street in the busy city center, holding aloft a long rainbow flag.
Russia decriminalized homosexuality in the early 1990s, however, it's still very much frowned upon with very little in the way of tolerance. According to local media many Russian people consider homosexuality an "untraditional sexual orientation." in a country built on tradition, the Russian Orthodox Church firmly backs the authorities in barring any gay marches or celebrations. Recently, the church not only called homosexuality a sin but also called on gays to fight the "disease."
Even if it's no longer a crime to be gay in Russia, there still is a long way to go before it's widely accepted and ever further to go for gay and lesbian Russians will be able to march and parade in the capitals streets.
Jason Shaw
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
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