Police smash Moscow pride for 4th year
For the fourth year in a row, riot police broke up an attempt to stage a gay pride parade in Moscow on May 16, arresting up to 80 participants, including local gay leader Nikolai Alekseev, British gay leader Peter Tatchell and Chicago gay activist Andy Thayer.
The city had again banned any public pride activities. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has called gay pride parades "satanic" and "weapons of mass destruction."
This year's effort to march came just hours before the finals of the übercampy Eurovision Song Contest, held in Moscow this year because Russia won it last year. The competition has a huge gay following across the Continent.
Some of the people arrested, including Tatchell and Thayer, were seized in the middle of interviews with reporters. Cameramen were knocked around as police plowed through to get at various activists. Officers managed to tear off one activist's shirt and bra. Alekseev was seized and held down by no fewer than five policemen.
As he was being hauled off, Tatchell shouted, "This shows the Russian people are not free."
"The Russian government is using this year's Eurovision in Moscow as a gala showpiece to show the world how far the country has improved since the early 1990s," Alekseev said. "However, what was witnessed this afternoon on the streets of Moscow shows the world just how little Russia has traveled when it comes to supporting fundamental human rights. ... This episode has shamed the Russian government and Moscow authorities before the world."
Several cases stemming from the bans on previous Moscow pride parades are pending at the European Court of Human Rights, which has a huge backlog of cases from Russia.
Meanwhile, the day after the pride debacle, a much-less-publicized march to mark the International Day Against Homophobia ( IDAHO ) went off without a hitch.
In an event called "Rainbow Flashmob," about 35 people marched from the Bolshoi Theater to Pushkin Square, distributing anti-homophobia leaflets and, at the end, releasing rainbow balloons.
"Riot police observed the event and did not detain anybody," said "Maxim G." of the Russian LGBT Network.
The network reported that similar events were staged in 40 Russian cities, with the largest in St. Petersburg, where 250 people participated.
Asked why the pride parade was broken up by police but the Rainbow Flashmob wasn't, chief pride organizer Nikolai Alekseev said: "If I go on the streets now with the balloons, no one will give a shit. As soon as it is not known to any media and police, and as soon as you don't make an official request according to the law for the demonstration, you can do what you want. No one cares, as it is not known in the society and in the media."
Council of Europe supports IDAHO
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe issued a strongly supportive statement in conjunction with the May 17 International Day Against Homophobia ( IDAHO ) .
"Today, being a homosexual will no longer, at least not in a member state of the Council of Europe, result in being put in prison, but discrimination and homophobia still exist and not only on the margins of society," wrote Terry Davis. "I condemn the homophobic violence perpetrated by skinheads, but it is heads of some political parties that I am really worried about.
"It is unacceptable that some people in positions of official or moral authority in Europe still behave as if the European Convention on Human Rights does not apply to homosexuals," Davis said. "People who discriminate often invoke morality to justify their attitude. They are making a relevant point, but they are getting it wrong. It is not the homosexuals who are immoral. It is the homophobes."
Peru bans gay cops
Peru's Interior Ministry announced May 13 that it is banning gays from being police officers.
It said cops who have sex with people of the same sex "cause scandal" and "denigrate" the police's "image."
The ministry also said it will suspend officers who commit adultery.
Anti-gays attack police in Krakow
Anti-gay protesters attacked police at the gay pride parade in Krakow, Poland, May 16. One person was injured and 20 counterdemonstrators were arrested.
The anti-gays threw eggs, bottles and chairs at the officers.
The parade itself, the city's fifth pride march, was not disrupted.
Singapore gays stage first rally
Singaporean gays held their first-ever public rally May 16.
Some 2,500 people took part in the event at "Speaker's Corner," a new free-speech zone in a local park.
The zone allows residents of the tightly controlled island to speak out on various matters, but not on religion, language or race.
Gay sex remains illegal in Singapore.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
