 Neo-Nazis target a GLBT Valentine’s Day flash mob in Moscow
as Moscow Gay Pride fights for its right to march.
Gays, lesbians and supporters met in Moscow on February 14 to walk hand in hand with rainbow
flags from Pushkin Square to Okhotny Ryad subway station in the city centre.
According to participants, neo-Nazis were present at Pushkin Square when marchers
arrived, apparently alerted by internet notices.
One supporter received serious injuries when he was attacked
by members of the fascist anti-gay group.
On the same day, organisers of
Moscow Gay Pride lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights stating that
their rights were breached when the Mayor of Moscow banned the march in May
2007.
It is the
second application to the court from Gay Pride organisers in Moscow.
On May 27, 2006, violent protests followed the outlawing of what would have been Russia's first pride march.
Moscow's mayor Yury Luzhkov has said that GLBT parades
will not be permitted while he holds office as they would “provoke outrage” in
society.
Organisers of
Pride claim the Russian Federation, which signed the European Convention on
Human Rights when it joined the Council of Europe, have breached their rights
enshrined in the European Convention.
Photo: A nationalist protester shouts anti-gay
slogans outside the Kremlin, Moscow, Saturday, May 27, 2006, when authorities
prevented GLBT Muscovites from marching in what would have been Russia's first pride march.
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