Protest at banning of Moscow Gay Pride

Russian Embassy picket

Thursday 2 March 2006
12:00 Noon – 2:00 PM
Russian Embassy
13 Kensington Palace Gardens,
London W8 4QX

A demonstration in solidarity with Russian LGBT groups will be held
outside the Russian Embassy on Thursday 2 March 2006, from 12 noon, to
protest the banning of Moscow Pride by the Mayor of Moscow and threats
of violence by Russian religious leaders.

The protest is being called by the organisers of the International Day
Against Homophobia and will coincide with parallel protests in other
European cities.

Map:
 http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.5071&lon=-0.1904&scale=10000&icon=x

Nearest
Tube: Queensway or Notting Hill Gate (0.3 miles)
Nearest Train: Paddington (0.8 miles)

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov has announced that the city government will
not allow a gay parade "in any form" and any attempt to hold a gay
event will be "resolutely quashed"

Chief Mufti of Russia's Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims,
Talgat Tajuddin said:
"Muslims' protests can be even worse than these notorious rallies
abroad over the scandalous cartoons… The parade should not be allowed,
and if they still come out into the streets, then they should be
bashed," he added.

Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar said that if a gay pride was allowed to
go ahead it "would be a blow for morality". He said the the Jewish
community would not stand by silently. "Sexual perversions", he said,
did not have a right to exist.

A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church (who have lobbied the
mayor to ban the parade) spoke out against Moscow Pride, telling
various media outlets that homosexuality is a "sin which destroys
human beings and condemns them to a spiritual death."

Russian LGBT groups have called on their counterparts in other capital
cities to demonstrate outside Russian embassies to make sure the issue
gets the attention of the Russian media and to show their support for
Russia’s struggling gay community.

The UK coordinator of the International Day Against Homophobia
(IDAHO), Derek Lennard – who is helping to organise the protest in
London – said:

"The first Pride in Moscow is of enormous and enormous importance
particularly to the LGBT communities in the Baltic and Eastern
European Countries. All those who are able to take the freedom to
organise Pride for granted will surely want show their support for the
LGBT community in Moscow."

Simultaneous demonstrations are planned in Paris and Warsaw.

Moscow Pride is part of an International Gay Festival in May which
will be attended by 250 people including politicians and campaigners
from all over the world.

For more information, call 0770 843 5917 or email  info@idaho-uk.org
The UK International Day Against Homophobia website is
www.idaho-uk.org

ENDS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------