Moscow, May 17, 2019
Photo: rambler.ru
The Moscow city administration had refused to allow representatives of the LGBT community to hold a gay pride parade on May 25 and three rallies on May 25, 26, and 27, LGBT activist Nikolai Alexeev told Interfax.
The estimated number of would-be participants in the procession is 300.
“The Moscow authorities just forbade the holding of a Moscow gay parade for the 14th year in a row, and also three LGBT meetings, including with a call for the execution of the decree of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of ‘Alexeev and others vs. Russia’ on the illegality of bans on gay parades in Russian cities, which entered into force on May 6, 2019,” Alexeev said.
He also noted that the federal law against gay propaganda against minors, which is appealed to as the basis for banning gay pride parades, is recognized by the ECHR as contrary to the European Convention of 2017.
There are plans to appeal city hall’s decision in court, Alexeev added. The purpose of the events was to draw attention to the alleged discrimination and rights violation of members of the LGBT community.
The ECHR declared Russian authorities’ bans on gay pride parades illegal in November 2018. The court communiqué stated that Russia had violated a number of articles of the European Convention for the protection of human rights and freedoms: article 11 (freedom of assembly and association), article 13 (right to an effective means of rights protection) and article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).
Gay pride parades have been banned in many cities throughout Russia, including in Voronezh, Tambov, Tula, Kaluga, Ivanovo, Belgorod, Vladimir, Oryol, Ryazan, Kursk, Maykop, and Norilsk.
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