Moscow mayor: Ban on gay parades to continue

Moscow's mayor, who has banned gay rights parades in the past, vowed Thursday to continue his ban on what he called sexual minority "propaganda", according to Russian news agencies.

Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has called homosexuality "satanic," said City Hall has banned, "and will continue to ban, the propaganda of the views of sexual minorities." Those views, he is quoted as saying, "could become one of the factors for the spread of HIV."

City Hall has rejected repeated requests by public organizations to draw attention to gay rights with parades. Attempts by activists to defy the ban have ended violently in some cases and petered out in others.

See Moscow mayor: Ban on gay parades to continue
Boston Herald, United States