- Violence has marred previous Pride parades in Moscow.
RUSSIA – Moscow city officials have rejected an application for a gay Pride parade to be held in the city center later this month, citing a risk of public disorder.
The organizers said in a statement that they received a letter last week from Moscow city hall refusing a bid to hold a parade with more than 5,000 activists on May 28 in the Bolotnaya Ploshchad city park. Previous attempts to hold a sanctioned parade have been banned and violently broken up, AFP reports.
Organizers had expressed hopes that it would go ahead under a new city mayor and with backing from the European Court of Human Rights. Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, sacked in September, publicly called gay Pride events “Satanic.” His successor Sergei Sobyanin has made certain concessions, allowing opposition activists to hold authorized demonstrations.
But last week, the group led by prominent gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev received a letter from the city council saying that, “Moscow city government considers it is justified in not permitting the announced event to go ahead.”
The letter reportedly said that public gatherings could be banned to keep order, preserve morality or protect the rights and freedoms of others. Moscow authorities said they had received letters from religious and traditional groups threatening protests if the event was not banned.
“In the opinion of many correspondents, holding the event could lead to a wave of protests, which could grow into group violations of public order,” they said.
