Thayer’s trip is sponsored by the all-volunteer Gay Liberation Network (GLN), of which he is a co-founder. In 2007, GLN sponsored Nikolai Alekseev’s first-ever visit to the United States. God speed brave advocate.Gay Russians Arrested | Boycott Eurovision
Source Gay Liberation Network activist en route to Russia Mayor Yury Luzhkov has labeled gays "satanic," and last year had Thayer and others arrested by the OMOH, Moscow's riot police. This year's demonstration, slated for Saturday, May 29, will go forward despite Luzhkov's ban.
This is the fifth year that Moscow authorities have banned gay pride events in the city, despite a decriminalization of homosexuality that occurred 17 years ago when Russian authorities were courting the European Union. In announcing this year's ban, Moscow authorities did not offer an alternative venue to the proposed site of the protest, as they are required to by law.
"For several years, Moscow has experienced unprecedented pressure to conduct a gay pride parade, which cannot be called anything but a Satanic act," said Luzhkov in December. "We have prevented such a parade and we will not allow it in the future. Everyone needs to accept that as an axiom. It's high time that we stop propagating nonsense discussions about human rights, and bring to bear on them the full force and justice of the law."
I reported on the 2008 Moscow pride Russian Gay Pride: everything you want to know about getting your head bashed in but were afraid to ask
2009 Русский язык Гей Изолировано и преследовал Мировые Стенды Близко Russian Gay's Isolated and persecuted the World Stands By
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Message received from Andy Thayer May 28, 2010 at 12:15pm
Subject: Russian Gays’ Courage Contrasts With the Shame of Western Embassies
MOSCOW, Russia, May 28th, eve of Gay Pride – This afternoon in their final court date before Moscow Pride, gays and lesbians here predictably were rejected once again by the authorities. The Tverskoi District Court of Moscow upheld the ban on tomorrow’s Pride march. On Thursday night, the Taganskiy District Court of Moscow upheld the ban on the assemblies before the march.
Nikolai Alekseev, principal organizer of Moscow Pride, described the court proceedings as “a funny circus. Even the judge was laughing.” A lawyer for city insisted that the march permit wasn’t being rejecting for “the gay issue,” but because there were too many other activities going on in the city that same day.
Moscow Pride organizers applied for their permits on May 17th, the first day possible under the Russian federal permit law. Yet the reason given for the rejection of one of the proposed rally sites, the City said, was because there was another event scheduled for that same location – a 9 AM to 9 PM rally celebrating the policies of Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin! This is what prompted the outburst of laughter from Judge Marina Chernova, who upheld the ban anyway.
“Often I am not pleased with how I speak in court,” said Alekseev, who was acting as his own attorney, “but today I was very satisfied with how I did, but it didn’t matter because it was a political decision.”
Defeated in court, Alekseev was still defiant. “We’re not going to surrender to the illegal decisions of the Russian authorities, and threats of violence against our peaceful public manifestation.”
Read more at:
http://www.facebook.com/l/92812;tinyurl.com/RussianGayCourage
Read previous articles about Moscow Gay Pride at:
U.S. Activist Joins Moscow News Conference Denouncing Mayor’s 5th Ban of Gay Pride Parade
http://www.facebook.com/l/92812;chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/90573/index.php
While Russian Gov’t Bigots Seem Steadfast, the Ground is Shifting Beneath Them
http://www.facebook.com/l/92812;chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/90561/index.php
Gay Liberation Network activist en route to Russia
http://www.facebook.com/l/92812;chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/90547/index.php
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