FRANCE/RUSSIA
Russian Public Opinion Shows Support for Gay Equality
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PARIS, October 24 – A majority of Russians think
that gays should have equal rights, a poll has revealed. |
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Nikolai Alekseev, the head of the campaigning website GayRussia.ru and one of the organisers of the first Moscow Pride and Festival next year, told a Paris press briefing on homophobia that the latest opinion poll showed there was 51% in favour of equality for gays in Russia. But he said that there was still a lot of work to be done in Russia to combat homophobia, despite a change in attitudes over the past 15 years.. “Then, 25% thought that all gays should be executed,” he added. “As I found out first hand when I visited the Black Sea area, there are a few Nationalistic people who are blaming gays for the demise of the Nazis sixty years ago.” The poll was conducted by the Levada Centre who interviewed 1,601 people throughout the Russian Federation and a further 1,000 in Moscow. The Moscow Pride Parade on Saturday May 27 will be preceded by a three-day festival which includes an event centred around the British writer Oscar Wilde. Attending will be Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland who said that, despite it being 110 years since his grandfather was convicted of homosexuality and sentenced to two years of hard labour in Reading Gaol, “homophobia is still rife in today’s society”. In addition to the previously announced first international IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) conference, the Moscow Gay Pride and Festival will feature a two-day ‘Homoculture” event featuring an exhibition and discussions from Scandinavia. Alekseev said that the application to stage the Pride Parade through the streets of Moscow could not be made until 15 days before the event. And he refuted published claims that the organisers would by seeking to include Red Square on the route. “This is simply not true,” he said. “This is some people being mischievous and trying to stir up controversy.” While it is far from certain that the Moscow authorities will issue the required permit for the parade, Alekseev said that his group would be prepared to take the matter to court if the mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, who publicly vowed last July that he would ban it, refuses the permit. “And if the Russian courts are not prepared to let us have our constitutional rights, then we will take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights,” he said. Addressing a question on whether there was genuine interest in a Pride event in Moscow among the local gay community, Alekseev said there was – and it was growing. “There has been relatively little publicity, yet we have already received more than 100 registrations from within Russia,” he said. “When we start the detailed publicity, I am sure that there will be a surge of local interest.” Alekseev said that there was already interest in Moscow Pride and Festival from outside the country, with support coming from many ‘movers and shakers’ in the international gay community. “This chance for us all to show that the situation of gays and lesbians has not only changed in the West, but is chaning in Russia. “Up to now the (Russian) media was not interested in gay matters. “However, from the moment of announcing the festival, interest has been colossal,” he said. Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of IDAHO, said the first International Day Against Homophobia was a success. Many countries took part, he said. “And there were some very powerful images from around the world.” He singled out a number of counties – Brazil where there was a one minute silence, Hong Kong, Nepal and their campaign linking homophobia and HIV/AIDS, the ‘public kiss’ in the Netherlands, Portugal, Sri Lanka, the UK and Peter Tatchell/Outrage!’s demonstration at the Saudi Arabian embassy, and the Ukraine. Tan said that it was vital to continue with the ‘international day’ and that it was appropriate to hold the first IDAHO conference in Moscow as there was still considerable homophobia in Russia. LINKS
IDAHO website
Click link below for further information on Moscow
Pride |
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Posted: 25 October 2005 at 21:30 (UK time)