Archive for May, 2009
40 Arrested as Moscow Anti-Riot Police Use Violence to Break up Slavic Pride March
By Peter Tatchell
Pride organisers call on performers to boycott Eurovision
Moscow – 16th May
Sources from Moscow have reported that police have used violent and oppressive tactics to break up the peaceful Slavic Pride march in the city.
The march had been outlawed by Moscow city authorities, but permission had been given for counter-demonstrations by far right ultra-nationalists.
Between 35 and 40 Russian LGBT activists have been arrested, including British human rights activist Peter Tatchell and Chicago LGBT activist Andy Thayer. Pride organiser Nikolai Alekseev was held down by 5 fully armed riot police and arrested.
European Embassy diplomats witnessed the violence are said to be planning a joint diplomatic action.
Slavic Pride organisers have called on the artists and performers of Eurovision to boycott tonight’s showpiece event in solidarity with the beaten and arrested protesters.
Organiser Nikolai Alekseev said:
“I call upon all of the artists who are due to perform at tonight’s Eurovision to boycott tonight’s event and send a message that Russia’s state oppression of human rights is not acceptable.
“The Russian Government is using this years Eurovision in Moscow as a gala showpiece to show the world how far the country has improved since the early 1990’s. However, what was witnessed this afternoon on the streets of Moscow shows the world just how little Russia has travelled when it comes to supporting fundamental human rights.
“The police brutality that we witnessed here this afternoon is shocking. We planned a peaceful march to highlight the dire state of LGBT rights in Russia today. The police, given violent legitimacy by the openly homophobic Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, did not hold back with their weapons, despite the world’s media watching.
“We were defending the often violated human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Russians. We demand the same legal protection against discrimination and hate crimes that none LGBT people enjoy.
“This episode has shamed the Russian Government and Moscow authorities before the world.”
You can follow Peter on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PeterTatchell or join the Peter Tatchell Human Rights Campaign Facebook group at http://tinyurl.com/cj9y6s
UPDATE 13:26 (Paris):
Xsenia is arrested together with 31 other activists. Russian and Belarusian have been put in different cells.
One activist has already been sent to the Court to be judged.
Nikolai Alekseev arrested
UPDATE Sunday 12:30 (Moscow):
All activists detained by the police at yesterday’s Slavic Gay Pride have been released.
13:30: Slovenia, the country which is currently chairing the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (which Russia is a member of), is expressing concern over the violent break up of the Slavic Gay Pride parade in Moscow on Saturday, the Slovenia news agency STA is reporting.
Slovenia took over the chairmanship just five days ago.
More informations UK Gay News:
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Moscow_Eurovision_Latest.htm
- Threats Mount Against Gay Pride in Moscow by Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network
- Slavic Pride Update From the LGBT Moscow Wires – Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov Refuses to Speak to Organisers – Police Attempted to Arrest Nikolai Alekseev
- Slavic Pride: Tatchell Allowed Into Russia – Moscow Mayor – Gay Activists Seek Meeting – Dialogue Urged to Resolve Dispute Over Gay Parade
- Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from Andy Thayer, a Chicago Activist
- Slavic Pride: We Don’t Want Moscow to Become Sodom Said Nikolai Dovydenko, Leader of the United Orthodox Youth
- Russian Lesbian Couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, Denied Marriage License
- Slavic Pride: UK Foreign Office Revises Guidance for Gay Travellers in Moscow
- Peter Tatchell Risks Moscow Gay Pride – Undeterred by Threat of Arrests and Bashings
- Moscow Ban of the Slavic Pride: Dutch Singer Gordon Threatens to Boycott the Eurovision Song Contest
- UN Human Rights Committee Gives Russia 6 Months to Justify Gay Picket Ban in Moscow
- Russia: Moscow Mayor Allows Anti Gay Pride Action but Bans Slavic Pride
- Russia: Lesbians to Attempt First Gay Marriage in Russia
- Russian Gay Activists Unveil Plans for Their Slavic Pride on Eurovision
Threats Mount Against Gay Pride in Moscow
By Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network
Moskovskij Komsololets article about first equal marriage action in Russia © Gay Liberation Network
Original Article on Chicago Indymedia by Andy Thayer
Moscow – 15th May
One Day Before Slavic Pride
A front page headline in Moskovskij Komsololets, one of Moscow’s major dailies, on Wednesday read “Lesbians Came to Marriage Registration Bureau Before Gay Pride,” with a sub-headline of “In Moscow, rise in publicity about gay pride.”
A few pages inside, another article countered with a headline of “Homosexualism ‘Weakens Power of Fist’: Activists Against Gay Pride Threaten Violence.”
The second article told of a press conference by fascists in which they promised that 1000 of them will protest against gay pride this Saturday and would physically attack it if possible. In previous years they violently attacked gay pride participants, sending German European Parliament member Volkhart Beck to the hospital in 2006, doing the same to veteran British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell in 2007. This year the Pride event has been banned once again, with the Moscow police chief threatening to arrest all of the participants.
On Thursday a reporter for Moskovskij Komsololets told gay organizers that police had told them that they would arrest lead Moscow organizer Nikolai Alekyeev today, attempting to decapitate the leadership of our “Slavic Pride” action on Saturday.
Nikolai Alekseev confers with fellow activists © Gay Liberation Network
Fortunately, Alexyeev and his colleagues anticipated the government’s action, and the last place you will find him and any of the other key organizers is at their flats or workplaces. All likely means of tracing their locations have been disabled, thus far forestalling pre-emptive government repression against tomorrow’s Slavic Pride action. “Security culture” has been carefully and calmly organized, with all of us sequestered at a safe location while we hold a two-day conference and training session for tomorrow’s pride action amidst the high-profile “Eurovision” song contest.
Walking to the conference © Gay Liberation Network
Strategy session © Gay Liberation Network
The first day of the conference featured political discussions about Slavic Pride — why we are doing the action and how it came to be. Several speakers noted that in each country there is a basic political division among gay organizers between those who see the need to take action against the political repression of gay rights organizing, versus those who say that it is enough to simply allow “gay culture” – clubs, coffee houses and the like — to proliferate, and that this alone would be sufficient change. “The gay movement in Belorussia is also separated into separate blocs, some [who] are in favor of action, others [who] are not,” said Belorussia leader Sergey Androsenko.
Belorussian activists practice for Saturday’s action © Gay Liberation Network
In the United States, this same debate is mirrored between those who say that we need to organize actions against things like Proposition 08 and proactively organize sit-ins and the like, versus those who say that gay marriage is “inevitable,” with the implication being that all we have to do is wait, or passively support politicians who will bring the change for us.
“You can’t change the community by closed situations, only [the] open fight for your rights can change [the] situation in society,” said Alekseev. “If you aren’t open, your relatives, the media doesn’t know, they need live examples.” Tatchell, noting the enormous progress that LGBT people in Britain have made over the past few decades, explained that how they got there was by “Doing many direct action protests and like Slavic pride, getting lots of publicity which raised public awareness, provoked public debate and put pressure on the authorities. So the tactics that you are using here today in Moscow are similar to the ones we used successfully in Britain — direct action and public protest get results.”
Those in the “change is evitable ” camp fail to understand that history does not always move forward, unerring moving towards greater rights. In my greetings to the conference from Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network, I noted that the economic crisis gripping the world poses additional challenges for lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) rights organizers. Far right organizers, such as those we likely will encounter tomorrow, are dangerous enough during “normal” times. When large numbers of people are losing their jobs and savings, history has shown that fascist organizers can gain many more adherents and greatly increase the threats they pose to sexual, national and religious minorities. Organizing bold pro-equality counter-messages becomes that much more important.
Doing so amidst state repression and limited openings for democratic organizing of any kind is a real trick. “We want to minimize the negative consequences” to the Pride participants, said Alekseev. Today’s part of the conference will be aimed at carefully organizing and training ourselves for tomorrow’s action so that we get “maximum exposure of mass media and=2 0minimum consequences to the participants.”
Some of that was already achieved by the action of two lesbians at the Moscow equivalent of a marriage license bureau. While a press conference by the fascists the same day was relatively downplayed, the marriage license bureau action, “the first attempt at homosexual marriage in Russia” had “about 40 [still] cameras and 30 TV cameras,” said Alekseev.
Moscow organizers noted that the numbers of fascist counter-protesters have diminished at each of the previous three Pride events in the city, with 1000 violently attacking the event in 2006, two hundred attacking in 2007, and only about 50 counter-protesting last year. What effect the economic crisis and the government’s heightened belligerence will have on tomorrow’s Pride event is anyone’s guess.
Regardless, veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell in his greetings on behalf of Britain’s OutRage! direct action group, aptly saluted the bravery of tomorrow’s Pride participants, most of who appear to be in their early 20s. “We had police harassment [in Britain], but nothing on the scale that you have experienced here and in Belorussia. And so all my comrades in OutRage! want to say to you, we send you our solidarity, we salute your courage, and we together are part of a world movement that will win queer freedom.”
Already some progress has been made. Gay rights organizing in Russia did not begin with the Moscow 2006 Pride action. In 1986, Vladmir Ortanov founded Russia’s first gay newspaper and in 1991 Russia saw its first Pride festival in St. Petersbu rg, even though homosexuality was still illegal and punishable by up to five years in prison. Even though young people are the overwhelming majority at today’s conference, veterans like Ortanov shared their history so that the younger activists could see how tomorrow’s action fits into the larger picture of struggle for gay rights and democracy in Russia.
Veteran Russian gay activist Vladmir Ortanov © Gay Liberation Network
“We are on an historical mission, it is a huge responsibility,” said Alekseev. “The evolution of LGBT rights in Russia will depend on what happens on 16 May.”
Despite threats of arrest and physical attacks by fascists, Slavic Gay Pride will take place at 1 PM tomorrow (Saturday) at a soon-to-be-disclosed location in downtown Moscow.
The eyes of much of the world’s media are already on Moscow covering the finals of the Eurovision Festival. President Medvedev, Prime Minister Putin and Mayor Luzhkov will have the choice of either confirming the world’s worst suspicions about Russian “democracy” by arresting the participants, or they can step away from that abyss by allowing LGBT people to assemble without state repression.
PHOTO CAPTIONS
Update by Nikolai Alekseev
- Slavic Pride Update From the LGBT Moscow Wires – Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov Refuses to Speak to Organisers – Police Attempted to Arrest Nikolai Alekseev
- Slavic Pride: Tatchell Allowed Into Russia – Moscow Mayor – Gay Activists Seek Meeting – Dialogue Urged to Resolve Dispute Over Gay Parade
- Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from Andy Thayer, a Chicago Activist
- Slavic Pride: We Don’t Want Moscow to Become Sodom Said Nikolai Dovydenko, Leader of the United Orthodox Youth
- Russian Lesbian Couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, Denied Marriage License
- Slavic Pride: UK Foreign Office Revises Guidance for Gay Travellers in Moscow
- Peter Tatchell Risks Moscow Gay Pride – Undeterred by Threat of Arrests and Bashings
- Moscow Ban of the Slavic Pride: Dutch Singer Gordon Threatens to Boycott the Eurovision Song Contest
- UN Human Rights Committee Gives Russia 6 Months to Justify Gay Picket Ban in Moscow
- Russia: Moscow Mayor Allows Anti Gay Pride Action but Bans Slavic Pride
- Russia: Lesbians to Attempt First Gay Marriage in Russia
- Russian Gay Activists Unveil Plans for Their Slavic Pride on Eurovision
Russian police officers arrest Nikolai Alexeyev in Moscow, 27 May 2007. Russian police arrested Russian gay rights activists and a leading British campaigner Peter Tatchell as they demonstrated outside the Moscow mayor’s office.
(Photo credit: AFP Photo Maxim Marmur, Getty Images)
Slavic Pride Update From the LGBT Moscow Wires
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov Refuses to Speak to Organisers
Three arrested but organisers vow to march regardless of threats
Moscow – 15 May 2009 by Peter Tatchell
Various senior Russian sources are reporting that Moscow police are today attempting to arrest Nikolai Alekseev and other key Slavic Pride coordinators, and are also attempting to track down and arrest British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell in order to prevent Slavic Pride going ahead.
Mr. Alekseev, Mr. Tatchell and others have been transferred to a secure location. In case of arrest, several contingency plans have been prepared so that the Slavic Pride march will not unravel should the police catch the main coordinators, adding to the number of campaigners already arrested.
The Embassies of UK, France, Switzerland, Holland, Germany and the USA have all been notified of the plans and the risk that some of their nationals could be arrested and detained tomorrow and could require consular assistance.
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov pointedly refused to speak to organisers or acknowledge the offer of compromise.
However, commenting on the increased number of Russians who are planning to attend this years Pride march, Slavic Pride organiser Nikolai Alekseev said
“We are glad to see that this year this event is organised, led and populated by local Russians and Moscowvites. After years of silent oppression, we are finally creating a generation of LGBT activists that are becoming bolder and are ready to step up to demand equal rights.
“The presence and solidarity shown by British human rights activist Peter Tatchell and Chicago LGBT activist Andy Thayer here in Moscow sets a good example for the local people who have braved the violent threats and taunts from Moscow Mayor Luzhkov and police chief Vladmir Pronin.”
Meanwhile, in the run up to Saturday’s march, Peter Tatchell was awarded the International Award of Slavic Pride for his active support of Slavic LGBT campaigns. Mr. Tatchell was selected by a jury that included notable human rights campaigners Sophie Int Veld, Volker Beck, Bertrand Delanoe and Louis Georges Tin.
Vladimir Ivanov, the film director who produced ‘Moscow Pride 06′, a documentary about the violent repression of the 2006 demonstration that was premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2007, was awarded the International Award of Russian Pride. As well as a film director, Mr. Ivanov has been one of the main organisers of Russian LGBT public campaigns over several years.
Additional
Diplomatic sources report that the Moscow Embassies of the people involved in Slavic Pride are concerned about people who are arriving in Moscow to attend the Eurovision celebrations and join the Pride march being beaten or arrested. They are monitoring the situation and, if necessary, it is reported that they are planning to make a joint diplomatic announcement later.
See Also:
- Slavic Pride: Tatchell Allowed Into Russia – Moscow Mayor – Gay Activists Seek Meeting – Dialogue Urged to Resolve Dispute Over Gay Parade
- Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from Andy Thayer, a Chicago Activist
- Slavic Pride: We Don’t Want Moscow to Become Sodom Said Nikolai Dovydenko, Leader of the United Orthodox Youth
- Russian Lesbian Couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, Denied Marriage License
- Slavic Pride: UK Foreign Office Revises Guidance for Gay Travellers in Moscow
- Peter Tatchell Risks Moscow Gay Pride – Undeterred by Threat of Arrests and Bashings
- Moscow Ban of the Slavic Pride: Dutch Singer Gordon Threatens to Boycott the Eurovision Song Contest
- UN Human Rights Committee Gives Russia 6 Months to Justify Gay Picket Ban in Moscow
- Russia: Moscow Mayor Allows Anti Gay Pride Action but Bans Slavic Pride
- Russia: Lesbians to Attempt First Gay Marriage in Russia
- Russian Gay Activists Unveil Plans for Their Slavic Pride on Eurovision
SF Gays Organize Rally for LGBT Iraqis
Leaders Want End to Torture and Murder
By Michael Petrelis
(San Francisco, CA) – A broad united coalition of human rights advocates and politicians will hold a spirited rally this Sunday, May 17, in solidarity with the LGBT citizens of Iraq, who face surging violence and killings. Recent reports out of Baghdad document the gruesome gluing of anuses of gay men, who are forced to swallow laxatives, leading to death by diarrhea, and come amid continuing genital mutilation of gays.
Responding to the atrocities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community organizers will hold a demonstration to support LGBT Iraqis:
WHO: Human rights activists and elected officials
WHAT: Rally and fundraiser
WHERE: Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro and Market Streets
DATE: Sunday, May 17
TIME: 12:30 – 1:30 PM
A diverse array of leaders will speak at the rally, including Sen. Mark Leno, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, SF Police Commission President Theresa Sparks, Karen Kai of the Rainbow World Fund, Rev. Lea Brown of the Metropolitan Community Church, Debra Walker of the Harvey Milk Democratic Club, political artist Clinton Fein, and community organizers Michael Petrelis and Gary Virginia of Gays Without Borders.
There will be al so a “bucket brigade” at the rally and circulating through cafes and restaurants of the Castro soliciting donations for groups working with LGBT Iraqis. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a social advocacy organization, have donated $1,000, and will supply volunteers for the brigade.
Rainbow World Fund, a LGBT international humanitarian relief charity, is serving as the fiscal sponsor, and donations made through it are tax-deductible. The fund’s colorful and eye-catching school bus will be parked at Milk Plaza, to serve as a welcome-wagon full of banners, posters and donation buckets. Donations will be used to provide direct aid to the Iraqi LGBT community. More at http://rainbowfund.org.
Speaking for Gays Without Borders/SF, a group focused on global issues, Gary Virginia explained the motivations for the May 17 actions.
“We San Franciscans have a solemn duty to denounce anti-LGBT hatred in Iraq. Our demands to President Obama, the State Department and Congress are simple and doable – condemn the torture and slayings, investigate the human rights abuses, and create a sizeable number of asylum slots for LGBT Iraqis to enter and reside in America,” said Virginia.
Contacts:
Michael Petrelis
Email: MPetrelis@aol.com
Gary Virginia
Email: MRSFL96@aol.com
See Also:
- Chicago: Protest Focuses on Obama’s Failure to Denounce Rampant Anti-Gay Violence in Iraq
- Improving Security Prompts UN to Revise Guidelines for GAY Iraqi Asylum Claims
- They Kill People Like Us Says Gay Iraqi
- Iraqi Gays Face Gruesome Torture/Murder Technique by Doug Ireland
- Iraq: Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of LGBT People – Iraqi Militia Have Deployed a Painful Form of Torture Against Homosexuals by Closing Their Anuses With Glue
- Iraq: IGLHRC Asks the Iraqi Government to Protect LGBT People
- NYC: Brendan Fay – Protest At Iraq Mission Over Murders Of Gay Men In Iraq
- San Francisco Gays Protest 6 Gay Iraqi Murders – April 6, 5 PM, Harvey Milk Plaza
- Iraq: Six Gay Men Murdered in Iraqi Slum
- URGENT: Stop Executions of Gay Iraqis – Members of Iraqi LGBT Group on Death Row – Action Needed to Halt Judicial Executions
- Iraq’s Queer Underground Railroad: A Secret Network of Safe Houses and Escape Routes Is Saving Gay Iraqis From Execution by Islamist Death Squads
- Iraq’s Underground Queer Railroad – Safe Houses and Escape Routes Save LGBT Lives by Peter Tatchell
- UK: Queer Fear 2 – The Sexual Cleansing of Iraq – Film Screening November 3rd 2008
- Sexual Cleansing in Iraq: Bashar, Coordinator of Iraqi LGBT in Baghdad Assassinated – Islamist Death Squads Are Hunting Down Gay Iraqis and Summarily Executing Them
- Iraq: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Do Kill – Newsweek’s Inquiry About Gays Persecuted
- Iraq: Out of the Gathering Darkness – Two Iraqi Lesbians, Amal and Zahra, Shot Dead and Decapitated
- U.S. Invasion Has Made Life Worse for Iraqi LGBT Community
- New York: Benefit Party for Iraqi LGBT at the North Star Fund
- Iraqi LGBT Have Recently Obtained New Video Evidence
- New Disappearances of Gay People in Iraq
- Treatment of LGBT People In Iraq by Police
- From Iran to New Iraq, Ayatollahs Are Murderers of Homosexuals: Massive Crimes Against Humanity Are Committed by the Pro-Iranian Iraqi Government Installed by the Amerikan Occupation and Its Sectarian Militias
- Three Iraq Safe Houses Forced to Close
- IRAQI LGBT: SAFE HOUSE CAMPAIGN
Baltic Pride to go ahead after court lifts council ban
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • May 15, 2009
Baltic Pride has been saved after Riga’s Administrative Court lifted a ban imposed by the city council on tomorrow’s Pride march.
Thirty four of the 60 city council members had written to executive director Andris Grinbergs, demanding permission for the parade to be withdrawn on the grounds that it was offensive to public decency and posed a threat to public security.
A representative of the city council appeared at the Administrative Court this morning and could not provide clear reasons why the march had been cancelled. The court then lifted the ban.
The court hearing was attended by the representatives of No Pride movement, Roman Catholic Church in Latvia and a religious sect New Generation.
All three asked the Court to participate in the hearing as interested parties. However, their requests were denied.
The march has been organised by Latvian organisation Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League and Estonian Gay Youth, who expect around 700 people to take part.
In a statement issued immediately following the court hearing, LGBT group ILGA-Europe said it was “delighted” at the outcome.
“[We] congratulate the Latvian judicial system for yet another instance of defending the fundamental human rights in the country,”, spokesperson Juris Lavrikovs said.
See also:
Peter Tatchell Moscow 2007
Moscow mayor – Gay activists seek meeting
Dialogue urged to resolve dispute over gay parade
Tatchell allowed into Russia. Arrived this morning
He urges respect for Russia’s great gay icons, such as Peter Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Gogol
Moscow – 14 May 2009 by Peter Tatchell
“I appeal to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to meet with me and the Slavic Gay Pride organizers to discuss his anxieties about the gay parade. We are keen to reassure him. Dialogue can create understanding and facilitate the amicable solution we seek. We are ready to meet the Mayor anywhere at anytime. I hope he will agree. Meeting us would be a generous, conciliatory gesture,” said British gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who arrived in Moscow today to support Saturday’s planned gay parade in the city centre.
The Moscow authorities have banned the gay parade and threatened “tough measures” against the marchers – even though the right to protest in guaranteed under the Russian constitution.
“Many great Russians have been gay or bisexual, including Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Eisentein, Modest Mussorgsky, Nijinski, Sergei Diaghilev, Nikolai Gogol, and Rudolf Nureyev. The Russian people should celebrate their gay history with pride. These gay Russian artists and intellectuals have made an immense contribution to human civilisation,” said Mr Tatchell.
Mr Tatchell is the human rights spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales. He is also the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford East at the next UK general election, and hopes to be elected MP of the university city.
Nikolai Alekseev, the organizer of the gay parade said:
“All we seek is the right to hold a gay parade like they have in other European cities. This is not unreasonable. Sadly, the Moscow authorities have so far refused to meet and dialogue with us. We are sure that a solution can be found if the mayor and his officials meet us. We are offering him an olive branch. I hope he will reciprocate,” said Mr Alekseev.
At the Moscow Pride parade in 2007, Mr Tatchell was badly beaten and arrested. He has been left with permanent minor eye and brain damage, which has adversely affected his vision, concentration, memory, balance and coordination.
“I am undeterred by my violent experiences last time. It is important to support brave Russians who are defending the right to protest. The right to hold a gay parade is an issue of fundamental civil liberties. We are defending the freedom of expression of all Russians, gay and straight,” added Mr Tatchell.
Mr Tatchell was granted a Russian visa and had no trouble when he arrived at Moscow airport this morning. “Immigration officials were welcoming, friendly and courteous,” he said.
Have a look on this movie of the 2007 Moscow Gay Parade :
- Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from Andy Thayer, a Chicago Activist
- Slavic Pride: We Don’t Want Moscow to Become Sodom Said Nikolai Dovydenko, Leader of the United Orthodox Youth
- Russian Lesbian Couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, Denied Marriage License
- Slavic Pride: UK Foreign Office Revises Guidance for Gay Travellers in Moscow
- Peter Tatchell Risks Moscow Gay Pride – Undeterred by Threat of Arrests and Bashings
- Moscow Ban of the Slavic Pride: Dutch Singer Gordon Threatens to Boycott the Eurovision Song Contest
- UN Human Rights Committee Gives Russia 6 Months to Justify Gay Picket Ban in Moscow
- Russia: Moscow Mayor Allows Anti Gay Pride Action but Bans Slavic Pride
- Russia: Lesbians to Attempt First Gay Marriage in Russia
- Russian Gay Activists Unveil Plans for Their Slavic Pride on Eurovision
Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from a Chicago Activist
Gay Pride in Moscow:
Report from a Chicago Activist
By Andy Thayer, Gay Liberation Network
Andy Thayer of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Network on Red Square in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral, midnight, upon arrival in Moscow, May 13th © Gay Liberation Network
“I [only] made the conclusion [to come to Gay Pride in Moscow] on the 12th of May because I was really very frightened about myself and my friends. I know that there is some information that Pride is going to be canceled, and more than this, that Pride participants are going to be beaten.”
And why did you decide to come anyway?
“Because this is my fight really. If I don’t go to the pride parade, who will go there? My reasons to come was to support my friends and of course to support gay rights.”
Sergio Yenin, 19-year-old gay activist from Minsk, Belorussia
Thursday, May 14
MOSCOW — After 14 hours of flights, last night I found myself in Eastern Europe for the first time in my life, warmly greeted by lesbian and gay activists who, despite state repression, are organizing their fourth annual pride event in this city. This year’s event is dubbed “Slavic Pride,” denoting the significant participation of activists from around the region.
The previous three years’ events have gone forward despite bans from the authorities and violence from neo-fascists in Russian orthodox and skinhead garb. This year the authorities not only banned the Pride event, but for good measure, approved the anti-gays’ application to hold their own event this past Tuesday.
That same day, our Moscow friends countered with their own unsanctioned action at the Department of Registration of Acts of Civil Status — an attempt by two lesbian activists to get a marriage license. Leading Slavic Pride activist Nikolai Alekseev said the action was inspired in part by a February civil disobedience action at a marriage license bureau in Chicago. The Moscow action received widespread international press coverage, including from the New York Times.
As I shadowed Alekseev around the city last night, press coverage if anything seemed to build, with Nikolai’s two cell phones ringing incessantly and meetings with Finish and Slovenian journalists held near midnight just outside of Red Square.
Nikolai Alexseev, chief organizer of Slavic Pride, being interviewed by a Slovenian journalist just outside a Eurovision reception being held near Red Square © Gay Liberation Network
Slavic Pride is slated for this Saturday, amidst the big “Eurovision Fest” being hosted this year by Moscow. For those not familiar with what Eurovision is, think “American Idol” times ten, with a profusion of media coverage and street banners that puts Chicago’s 2016 Olympics bid hype to shame. While our specific plans for Saturday are necessarily secret at this time, the aim is to cause maximum embarrassment to the government if they attempt to arrest us or allow the neo-fascists to attack.
In response to Moscow activists’ application for a permit this year, police chief Vladmir Pronin told the Russian news agency Interfax that gay pride parades in the capital are “unacceptable – gay pride parades s houldn’t be allowed.”
“No one will dare to do it, such ‘brave-heart’ will be torn to shreds,” he added. “The West can say we’re bad guys, but our people will see it is right. Our country is patriarchal, that’s [sic] sums it up… I positively agree with the Church, with the Patriarch, politicians, especially with [Mayor] Luzhkov, who are convinced that man and woman should love each other. It is established by God and nature.”
However, Moscow Pride organizers have vowed to move forward with this year’s Pride event despite the police chief’s threats.
“Mr. Pronin already showed his incompetency last year when his services were unable to prevent us unveiling a banner directed against the Mayor, right opposite his office,” said Alekseev. The main pride even t successfully took place nearby at the monument to the famous Russian gay composer, Peter Tchkaivosky, while the authorities and neo-fascists were hoodwinked into thinking that it would take place outside of homophobic Mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s office.
Today at the start of a gay rights conference at an undisclosed location east of the city, I was joined by British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and LGBT activists from around Russia and Belorussia – Minsk, Rostof, Sochi, Ufa, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Ekaterinbourg, Volgodonsk, Ryazan and of course Moscow.
Peter Tatchell, Britain’s foremost LGBT rights campaigner, on the coach to today’s Slavic Pride conference © Gay Liberation Network
Nikolai Alexeyev, Irina Fet, on the bus to Slavic Pride © Gay Liberation Network
Irina Fet, one of the two lesbians who attempted to get married in Moscow on Tuesday © Gay Liberation Network
As we gathered on a coach to go to the conference, Moscow activist Nikolai Baev explained how a group of young activists from Ryazan, about 200 miles south of the capital, got involved in organizing this year’s Slavic Pride:
“There is a very discriminatory law in the Ryazan region which proh ibits so-called propaganda about homosexuality and among minors. The law passed in 2006 and we had pickets that said that homosexuality is absolutely normal and we are proud of our situation. We picketed in front of schools in Ryazan and we were detained because it was illegal.”
Peter Tatchell (left) with Nikolai Baev (right) of Moscow © Gay Liberation Network
Two people were found guilty and fined 1500 rubles (about $45 US) each. Alekseev came to Ryazan to help in the campaign and in the appeal of their cases to the Constitutional Court of Russia.
Sergio Yenin, 19, explained how he became involved in gay rights organizing in Belorussia:
“I felt myself to be gay from my early childhood. Last year I came to Minsk and there I got acquainted with some gay activists and I thought it would be great if I fought for my gay rights. There are a lot of people who don’t fight for their rights, who don’t participate in such activist movements, and they just consume our achievements. For example, we fought for our gay club, our one gay club in Minsk. It was in danger of being closed [by the government], but it still exists due to us.”
Sergio Yenin, 19-year-old gay activist from Minsk, Belorussia © Gay Liberation Network
I asked Sergio if he had participated in Minsk Pride events before.
“Yes, of course. The most outstanding Pride parade took place in 2001. But I didn’t participate because I was only 11 then. There were over 300 people participating in this event and 300 watching. This was fabulous. This was an historical moment in Belorussia.”
“The last one took place in October of 2008. It was named Queer Walk and it took place on the 11th of October 2008, the international day of coming out, and we organized a pride parade. It was a rather private, intimate event, there were fifty participants because we cannot organize such a public event because of our government. If we applied for an event, we would be denied.”
“There is an action that takes place [each year] called Chernobyl Way, and all of the opposition parties take place there, and our LGBT group participated last year and this year. Last year we raised the rainbow flag and there were a lot of bad comments about it, there were a lot of threats [of violence]. There were such political parties as Right Alliance, and they threaten us all of the time. This year we didn’t raise our rainbow flag because the organizer of the Belorussian National Front, the main opposition party, they coordinated a call to us, do not raise your rainbow flag, not because we have anything against you, because our fight for clean air, free of radiation will turn into a fight for gay rights.”
Peter Tatchell with Sergio Yenin © Gay Liberation Network
I asked Sergio why he personally joined the 15 others for the ten hour train ride from Belorussia to join this Saturday’s Slavic Pride:
“I [only] made the conclusion [to come] on the 12th of May because I was really very frightened about myself and my friends. I know that there is some information that Pride is going to be canceled, and more than this, that Pride participants are going to be beaten.”
And why did you decide to come anyway?
“Because this is my fight really. If I don’t go to the pride parade, who will go there?&nb sp; My reasons to come was to support my friends and of course to support gay rights.”
(Please note that all photos are free of copywrite, but please credit Gay Liberation Network, www.GayLiberation.net)
This article and accompanying photos are free of copywrite, but please credit the author. Medium resolution photos can be immediately downloaded from the following URL:
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Higher resolution photos are available upon request:
Send an email to LGBTliberation@aol.com with the subject line, “Send Slavic Pride Photos”
Andy Thayer
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Slavic Pride: We Don’t Want Moscow to Become Sodom Said Nikolai Dovydenko, Leader of the United Orthodox Youth
Gay visitors to Moscow told to expect violence
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • May 13, 2009
Gay activists and Eurovision fans have been warned they may be met with violence this weekend in Moscow.
The city is preparing to host the Eurovision Song Contest final but gay rights activists have said they will be holding a Slavic Pride march, despite city officials banning such events.
Such events have been met with violence from right-wing extremists in previous years.
“We won’t allow this satanic gathering,” Nikolai Dovydenko, the organiser of last week’s anti-gay picket and leader of the United Orthodox Youth, told the Guardian. “We don’t want Moscow to become Sodom. It’s an affront to Russian society and to our spiritual peace.”
When asked if his movement was intending to hurt gay and lesbian Eurovision fans, he said: “We don’t want to hurt anybody physically. But we will not let our feelings be insulted.” The group’s leaflet mixes images from previous gay parades with photos of terrorist attacks.
“Eighty per cent of Russians are orthodox Christians,” Dovydenko said. “We don’t intend to be humiliated.”
Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who previously described gays as “Satanic”, has done little to quell tension, declaring that no gay prides would ever be held in the city, despite its obligations under its constitution.
Nikolai Alekseev, the organiser of the Slavic Pride rally, warned that British gays and lesbians travelling to city would not be safe from extremist violence, adding that Moscow police would not protect them.
This week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office revised its guidance for travellers to Moscow, saying that gay visitors should be aware of possible violence and should be careful about open displays of affection.
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was among those who were beaten by rightwing extremists during an attempt to hold a march in 2007.
He said yesterday he would still attend the march to show solidarity with Russian campaigners, despite being beaten almost unconscious and then arrested.
See Also:
- Russian Lesbian Couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, Denied Marriage License
- Slavic Pride: UK Foreign Office Revises Guidance for Gay Travellers in Moscow
- Peter Tatchell Risks Moscow Gay Pride – Undeterred by Threat of Arrests and Bashings
- Moscow Ban of the Slavic Pride: Dutch Singer Gordon Threatens to Boycott the Eurovision Song Contest
- UN Human Rights Committee Gives Russia 6 Months to Justify Gay Picket Ban in Moscow
- Russia: Moscow Mayor Allows Anti Gay Pride Action but Bans Slavic Pride
- Russia: Lesbians to Attempt First Gay Marriage in Russia
- Russian Gay Activists Unveil Plans for Their Slavic Pride on Eurovision
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • May 14, 2009
The planned Baltic Pride march due to take place on Saturday in Riga, Latvia, has been banned by city officials.
The parade had previously been approved but a majority of city council members wrote to executive director Andris Grinbergs, demanding permission to be withdrawn on the grounds that the march was offensive to public decency and posed a threat to public security.
They threatened that if permission was not withdrawn by 4pm today, they would have the decision overruled by a vote in the city council.
The march has been organised by Latvian organisation Mozaika, the Lithuanian Gay League and Estonian Gay Youth.
They plan to contest the decision in court.
Kaspars Zalitis, coordinator of Latvia’s Amnesty International Youth Group, told the Baltic Times that the decision was illegal.
He said: “This is extremely illegal and is based only on hatred. The decision should only be taken if there was extreme danger and the police have assured us they have all the resources in place to protect us.”
The groups had expected 700 people to join the parade.
Amnesty International has also expressed its disappointment at the decision.
Nicola Duckworth, director of the Europe and Central Asia programme at the organisation, said: “This is a disgraceful move by the Riga city council.
“The decision is unlawful under Latvian law and violates the rights of Baltic LGBT people to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“The council should immediately reverse its decision and allow the march. Amnesty International fully supports the legal challenge by the organisers.”
The European Intergoup on Gay and Lesbian Rights has sent letters to both the president and prime minister of Latvia, reminding the country of its duty under the European Convention of Human Rights.
Intergroup president Michael Cashman MEP wrote: “I urge you to use your authority to not let Latvia be in breach of European human rights liabilities in regard to the Baltic Pride parade scheduled for 16th May.
“But I also urge you to tackle the situation in longer term and employ appropriate policies by your government to diminish homophobia in Latvian society.”
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