Police detain an anti-gay protester during a protest in central Moscow,
June 1, 2008. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Posted on 05/07/2009 9:37:12 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow has banned a gay parade planned to coincide with its hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest because it will "destroy morals" in the capital, a spokesman for the city's mayor said Thursday.
Gay rights activists have staged small unsanctioned parades in Moscow without government approval over the past few years. But they have faced arrests and severe beatings by anti-gay and neo-fascist groups.
"The Moscow government is saying: Moscow has never had gay parades and it never will," said Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's spokesman, Sergei Tsoi. "Not only do they destroy morals within our society, but they consciously provoke disorder which threatens the lives of Muscovites and visitors."
Parade organizer and prominent gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseyev said on his website www.gayrussia.ru that the event would take place anyway.
"This is our right and it is guaranteed by the constitution. No official, including the Moscow mayor, has the right to violate it," Alekseyev said.
But Luzhkov's spokesman said any attempt to hold an unsanctioned gay parade would be "toughly stopped by law enforcement agencies in accordance with the law."
Luzhkov, who has been mayor of Moscow since 1992, once said gay parades were "a satanic act"
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Police detain an anti-gay protester during a protest in central Moscow,
June 1, 2008. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
I think Paris Hilton needs to go over there and straighten things out.
Perhaps Obama has to say something about this... err... nah, I did not think so.
It reminds me the so called black Iraqi happy about the Obama win, and to which I replied: yeah, good luck on your color advancement in Iraq with Obama in power.
It already has destroyed morals in D.C. so the Reds are right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOV6qvizmA&feature=related - previous attempt was not welcomed by Moscovites
Sure ya don’t mean Perez Hilton. He’ll sraighten that Mayor out. ;-)
“The Moscow government is saying: Moscow has never had gay parades and it never will,”.....
I wonder if they have homo classes in schools like we do?....probably not!
If they can muster the will, surely we can....
Its nice to see that some countries are standing up to the homofascists!
Yeah, that's who I meant. I don't know why I said Paris. Maybe, it's because they're both airheads.:-)
Russia would enjoy the publicity if Paris showed up. :-)
Perez Hilton’s islamic gay tour....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.