Over 150 LGBT people and their friends have braved homophobic and transphobic thugs to demand their rights at a protest in St Petersburg, Russia.
TW: violence
St Petersburg bans gay pride and charges activists for ‘propaganda’
Despite having received approval on Tuesday, it seems St Petersburg Pride is cancelled again.
Q.
Organizers vow to go ahead with gay pride event in Russian city despite ban
Gay pride in St Petersburg has been banned and the organizers charged under the Russian city’s anti-gay ‘propaganda’ law.
Authorities yesterday (5 July) rejected an application by LGBT group Ravnopravie (Equality) to hold the city’s third annual pride tomorrow (7 July), despite initially authorizing the event on Tuesday (3 July).
City Hall claimed the decision to ban the march for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights was in response to local media reports that called the event ‘gay pride’ rather than a ‘march and a stationary rally’ as described in the application.
After the application was rejected, Yury Gavrikov, head of Ravnopravie, told Chtodelat News that he and another fellow organizer Sergei Volkov were then charged by police officers under the city’s so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ law which can be used to gag any public discussion of LGBT issues or events targeted at gay and trans people.
Gavrikov says police accused them of distributing information to the media which ‘promote[d] the social equality of same-sex relationships and traditional marriage’ among minors.
The St Petersburg ‘gay gag’ bill has fines of up to 1 million roubles ($34,400 €25,000) for organizations and up to 5,000 roubles ($172 €125) for individuals.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, St Petersburg governor Georgy Poltavchenko’s spokesman Andrei Kibitov claimed the public were also against the pride march.
He said: ‘A great number of calls and emails have been received not only from St. Petersburg, but from the other Russian cities as well, asking [us] to cancel the gay parade.’
Ravnopravie has vowed to go ahead with the demonstration despite the decision but officials warned that they would be breaking the law if they did.
Applications to hold the parade in the last two years have been rejected, with authorities claiming it could damage buildings, cause road accidents or violated the rights of pedestrians not participating in the rally.
Russian police arrest 14 gay rights campaigners in St Petersburg
25 June 2011, 1:16pm
Police drag away a gay rights activist who protested in Moscow last month
Updated: 14:46 BST
Russian police have arrested and charged up to 14 LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) activists who were attempting to hold a demonstration in St Petersburg.
An AP photographer reports that police arrested several others who were accused of attacking the LGBT campaigners.
Eye witnesses report that a number of individuals attacked the LGBT protestors while attempting to seize their banners.
Nikolai Alexeyev, the founder of the GayRussia website is among those who have been arrested by police and is posting messages onto Twitter from the police station. A recent tweet reports that there are “14 lgbt activists in police station. Two were beaten, Alexey Kiselev by police inside station and Alexander Sheremetyev by homophobe [sic].”
Mr Alexeyev reports that the gay rights activists will likely be taken to court but said “We will not surrender!”
He has tweeted that he has been charged with “illegal public protest and disobedience to police orders,” and adds: “Will be taken to court today!” If found guilty Mr Alexeyev and his fellow activists risk up to 15 days in prison.
Last month, police in Moscow arrested and detained a number of prominent gay rights activists including the openly gay US solider Dan Choi as homophobic violence broke out during the banned Moscow Pride march near to the Kremlin.
A large group of gay rights activists including the British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchel waved rainbow flags and carried signs reading “Russia is not Iran” were attacked by ultra-Orthodox campaigners who gathered to disturb the march, banned for the sixth year by the Moscow authorities.
Last month, it was reported that Moscow City Council had given approval for a gay pride march to be held legally for the first time. However, this was quickly reversed and yesterday, police warned gay rights activists that they would break up the pride march.
