Third Moscow Gay Pride Set for Sunday

MOSCOW, May 30, 2008 (GayRussia.ru) — A ‘public event’ at Moscow Gay Pride will go ahead on Sunday (June 1), organisers announced last night.

The event is scheduled to take place in front of Moscow City Hall in Tverskaya Street where, last year, participants tried to deliver a letter to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, but were met by anti-gay protestors.

Both the Moscow and Russian authorities have been urged to guarantee not only the constitutional right of gay men and women to freedom of expression but also to assure the security for the participants of this event, organiser Nikolai Alekseev said.

“In case of breach of our constitutional rights not only Moscow but also federal authorities will be responsible as we asked Russian President to intervene in this situation,” he added.

Last month, organisers applied for five marches in different locations every day during May.

But the Moscow Mayor banned all the events, saying that they will endanger public order and cause negative reaction of the majority of the population.

On Wednesday it was announced that Administration of Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev called Prefecture of the Central Administrative area of Moscow to allow Gay Pride event in one of the locations in downtown Moscow.

However, the organisers still have not received any proposals from Moscow authorities.

“We are still hoping for the compromise decision for the conduct of our public event but in the absence of the clear position of the authorities we are forced to announce the forthcoming Sunday as the date of our event,” Mr. Alekseev said this morning.

“[If] we receive a proposal from the authorities, we will be ready to change the place of the event very quickly.”

“The event will be conducted according to the law because the right to marches and pickets is guaranteed to us by the Russian Constitution and legislation in force. The ban of the march contradicts both Russian law and European Convention on Human Rights”.

Applications against the ban of Moscow Pride marches in May 2006 and in May 2007 are now in the European Court of Human Rights awaiting consideration.

If the propsed event on Sunday remains unsanctioned, the organisers said that only those “who realise the cossequences of taking part should attend.

Mr.Alekseev said that “in case of breach of our constitutional rights not only Moscow but also federal authorities will be responsible as we asked Russian President to interfere in this situation”.