Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

OutRage!-Russian Embassy demo 2 march

pirate | 02.03.2006 17:22 | Culture | Gender | Repression | London | World


Report on the demo held outside the Russian Consulate.

Moscow Gay Pride – London Protest

Russian Consulate picketed

London – 2 March 2006

Demonstrators picketed the Russian consulate in London today 2
March), in protest at the ban on the Moscow Gay Pride parade by the
Mayor of Moscow. They also condemned the threats of violence against
the Pride marchers by Russian religious leaders.

Today’s London protest coincided with simultaneous protests Paris,
Stockholm, Vienna and Warsaw.

The protest in London was coordinated by the organisers of the
International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), together with the gay
human rights group OutRage! and the Gay & Lesbian Humanist
Association.

Other groups supporting the protest included the Lesbian & Gay
Christian Movement, Pride London and EuroPride, Amnesty
International's LGBT group, Gay.com, The British Humanist Association,
The National Secular Society, the Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group, The
Green Party, the Gay Business Association, Gay to Z Directories, The
International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, Labour Campaign for
Lesbian and Gay Rights, DELGA (The Lib Dem LGBT group) and Red
Promotions.

Protest coordinator, Derek Lennard, of the Gay & Lesbian Humanist
Association , who is the UK coordinator of the International Day
Against Homophobia, said:

“The ban on Moscow Gay Pride is outrageous censorship. It is a
violation of the Russian constitution. Regardless of the wishes of the
Mayor of Moscow and bigoted religious leaders, Moscow Gay Pride will
go ahead in May. If necessary, we will help the Russian gay movement
challenge this ban in the courts.

“We extend our solidarity to Russian lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people. Their struggle is our struggle,” said Mr Lennard.

Peter Tatchell of the gay human rights group, OutRage!, added:

“The Mayor of Moscow says he supports democracy. We ask him to prove
it by giving the go ahead to Moscow Gay Pride. Democracy means
respecting the rights of minorities.

“Who does Luzhkov think he is? Joseph Stalin? Someone should remind
Yuri that the anti-gay Soviet Union is dead. Russia is a democracy and
in a democracy people have a right to protest peacefully.

“These attempts by Russian state and religious leaders to suppress
Moscow Gay Pride are a throwback to the bad old days of czarist and
communist totalitarianism. No amount of threats and intimidation by
the Mayor of Moscow, the Chief Mufti or the Chief Rabbi will stop the
gay freedom struggle in Russia. The right to sexual self-determination
and the right to protest are fundamental human rights that every
democratic nation must respect,” added Mr Tatchell.

The Moscow Gay Pride parade is scheduled to take place on 27 May, the
anniversary of the 1993 abolition of Soviet era laws against male
homosexuality.

Moscow Mayor Yuri 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.”

The Mayor’s diktat follows statements by the Russian Chief Mufti
threatening violence if the Pride parade went ahead.

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,” Chief Mufti of Russia’s Central
Spiritual Governance for Muslims.

“The parade should not be allowed, and if they still come out into the
streets, then they should be bashed.

“Sexual minorities have no rights, because they have crossed the line.
Alternative sexuality is a crime against God,” Talgat Tajuddin said.

Tajuddin then called on Russian Orthodox members to join Muslims in
formulating a violent response to Moscow Pride.

A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has since lobbied
the Moscow 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."

Not to be left out, Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar said that if a gay
pride was allowed to go ahead it "would be a blow for morality". He
stopped short of calling for violence, but the Jewish community would
not stand by silently. "Sexual perversions", he said, did not have a
right to exist. Lazar said that gay pride marches were “a provocation”
similar to cartoon depictions of Mohammed.

Moscow Pride organisers, meanwhile, have said that attempts to prevent
the march will be challenged with court action, if necessary, all the
way to the European Court of
Human Rights in Strasbourg.

More Europe-wide vigils and marches are planned in the coming weeks to
protest against attempts by the Moscow government and religious
leaders to stop the Pride celebrations going ahead.

Russian gay and lesbian activists announced in July that they would
apply for a permit to hold pride celebrations in Moscow in May. If it
is granted, it would be the first Gay Pride parade ever held in the
Russian capital.

Many well known gay rights campaigners from around the world will
attend Moscow gay Pride, including the British gay campaigners Michael
Cashman MEP, Peter Tatchell of OutRage! and UK IDAHO co-ordinator
Derek Lennard.

Other prominent attendees are the Deputy Mayor of Paris and several
members of the European Parliament.

Over 250 representatives from more than 30 countries will attend the
simultaneous Moscow International Gay Festival from 25 to 27 May. This
festival will feature a series of lectures by Merlin Holland, the
grandson of Oscar Wilde, and a day of “Russian and Scandinavian
homoculture”.

Moscow Pride is a week after the start of the Russian Presidency in
the Council of Europe and just before the summit of G8 leaders in St
Petersburg. President Putin has not commented on Pride or the threats
of violence from religious leaders.

For further information:

Derek Lennard, IDAHO 07xxx xxxxxx
Peter Tatchell, OutRage! 02xxx xxxxxx

For photos of the demo, see:
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow1.jpg
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow2.jpg
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow3.jpg
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow4.jpg
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow5.jpg
www.outrage.org.uk/presspix/moscow6.jpg

The IDAHO-UK website is at: www.idaho-uk.org
The international IDAHO website is www.idahomophobia.org

For more information, email Derek Lennard at info-at-idaho-uk-dot-org

For info about Manchester events, email manchester-at-idaho-uk-dot-org

------------------------------------------------------

pirate

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech