Gay Pride in Moscow: Report from a Chicago Activist

Thayer, from the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago, in Red Square last night.Photo courtesy Glay Liberation Network. By Andy Thayer in Moscow MOSCOW, May 14, 2009 (Gay Liberation Network) – After 14 hours of flights, last night I found myself in Eastern Europe for the first time in my life, warmly greeted by lesbian and gay activists who, despite state repression, are organizing their fourth annual pride event in this city. This year’s event is dubbed ‘Slavic Pride’, denoting the significant participation of activists from around the region. The previous three years’ events have gone forward despite bans from the authorities and violence from neo-fascists in Russian orthodox and skinhead garb. This year the authorities not only banned the Pride event, but for good measure, approved the anti-gays’ application to hold their own event this past Tuesday. That same day, our Moscow friends countered with their own unsanctioned action at the Department of Registration of Acts of Civil Status – an attempt by two lesbian activists to get a marriage license. Leading Slavic Pride activist Nikolai Alekseev said the action was inspired in part by a February civil disobedience action at a marriage license bureau in Chicago. The Moscow action received widespread international press coverage, including from the New York Times. As I shadowed Alekseev around the city last night, press coverage if anything seemed to build, with Nikolai's two cell phones ringing incessantly and meetings with Finish and Slovenian journalists held near midnight just outside of Red Square. Slavic Pride is slated for this Saturday, amidst the big ‘Eurovision Fest’ being hosted this year by Moscow. For those not familiar with what Eurovision is, think American Idol times ten, with a profusion of media coverage and street banners that puts Chicago’s 2016 Olympics bid hype to shame.

[michael]

I just watched this on MNBC...

All I can think of being a Historian is damn that looks just like Nazi SA storm troopers.

Russia is headed down a familiar road.

Putin and his neo fascist, neo communist, neo nationalist storm troopers that beat demonstrators, that kill journalists, that destroy opposition with violance MUST BE STOPPED.

[michael]

Russian pride activists should find a Russian Concentration camp survivor that can testify to media, I am a Russian Soldier that survived in German Nazi Concentration camps.

Among those that were at that camp that did not survive were gay men, men that were forced to be gay, gypsies and others called undesirable.

I survived, I weep when I see my country treat others like the Nazi Germans treated them in concentration camps.

[michael]

a person must reach the Russian SOUL, and crying for equal rights, and non descrimination will not work.

Russians must be reached through their concentration camp survivors ans realization of the horrors of Nazi's and the Gulag of the Communists.

[Abe]

In fairness to Russia, why can't Russia ban Gay Pride Parades? For that matter, why can't any country formerly behind the Iron Curtain ban Gay Pride parades?

The one silver lining about being behind the Iron curtain for many years, was that these countries weren't contaminated with all this Political Correctness nonsense coming from the West.

Countries shouldn't be blamed if they don't get PC guilt trips for not doing things in accordance to the Big Lib PC thought police in the US and West.

Maybe the Russians just didn't like seeing Miss California being attacked by the US big Libs, for simply saying that marriage is between a man and a woman.

[Jazz singer]

What rights have foreigners to go and demonstrate in Russia?

[Shturmovic]

michael wrote:

I just watched this on MNBC...
All I can think of being a Historian is damn that looks just like Nazi SA storm troopers.

Aw cmon, people arent allowed to march anymore?

michael wrote:

Putin and his neo fascist, neo communist, neo nationalist storm troopers that beat demonstrators, that kill journalists, that destroy opposition with violance MUST BE STOPPED.

Ehm.
1. Not neo-nationalist. Just nationalist. Just like most other countries.
2. I cannot help but notice that neo communism and neo fascism are mutually exclusive. Choose one for your slur.

[Shturmovic]

michael wrote:

I am a Russian Soldier that survived in German Nazi Concentration camps.
.

You did not.

[Lukashenko is Dr Phil]

Jazz singer wrote:

What rights have foreigners to go and demonstrate in Russia?

Get publicity in an international event? But way get so paranoid over a few gay people?

[tomas]

Why on earth should a Government want to ban a pride display of any kind? Obviously, they hate homosexuals and wish them invisible. Russian has always flirted with totalitarianism and can be extremely brutal. I don't see this playing out well in the short-run. In the longterm, maybe. Why hasn't its neighbors like Finland said something?

[Shturmovic]

Well, Russia is more conservative in its values than the West, and tis only right to discourage values that are contrary to the opinions of the majority.

After all, nobody is banning gay people, but only public demonstrations of said gay people.

[Why_Me]

michael wrote:

I just watched this on MNBC...
All I can think of being a Historian is damn that looks just like Nazi SA storm troopers.
Russia is headed down a familiar road.
Putin and his neo fascist, neo communist, neo nationalist storm troopers that beat demonstrators, that kill journalists, that destroy opposition with violance MUST BE STOPPED.

Your exactly correct ! Something must be done to stop the Kremlin fascist.

Here's an idea. "Sochi" A big gay demonstration while the Olympics are going on...think of all the press it would get. But remember gay's would have to enter Russia very indiscriminately for the fact fascit Putin and his goons will be watching for anything that looks amiss right before and during the Olympics.

But if enough gay people made it into Russia and had a large enough protest at or very near Sochi the press would jump all over that story, and Tsar Putin would end up with mud on his face.

So if you have any pull in the gay community you might want to relay that message I just posted on here.

:)

[tomas]

A civilized country protects the rights of minorities. Russia does not.

[Lukashenko is Dr Phil]

tomas wrote:

A civilized country protects the rights of minorities. Russia does not.

Oh yeah. Yes people like Ted Haggard are pro-gay. God sakes. Gay marriage is illegal in the United States.

[Jazz singer]

Why_Me wrote:

<quoted text>
Your exactly correct ! Something must be done to stop the Kremlin fascist.
Here's an idea. "Sochi" A big gay demonstration while the Olympics are going on...think of all the press it would get. But remember gay's would have to enter Russia very indiscriminately for the fact fascit Putin and his goons will be watching for anything that looks amiss right before and during the Olympics.
But if enough gay people made it into Russia and had a large enough protest at or very near Sochi the press would jump all over that story, and Tsar Putin would end up with mud on his face.
So if you have any pull in the gay community you might want to relay that message I just posted on here.
:)

Rubbish!!!

Tibet independence protesters used the Olympics in Beijing to protest.

What happened? Just a few arrests and nothing else.
Did that affect the Olympics? Nope.
Did that affect China? Nope.

Nobody like fanatics of any description to make publicity stunts like these and most people can see through the motivation enough.

If the gays want to travel to Sochi and get their skull cracked, good luck to them !!

[michael]

Your an idiot that can't read or understand English WHAT does this say ?

"should find a Russian Concentration camp survivor that can testify to media, I am a Russian Soldier that survived in German Nazi Concentration camps."

((( gay activists shoudl find a survivor that can testify that they are one who survived.))

I never in 100 years stated that I AM ONE...

However I would have died in Nazi Germany for at least 14 different offenses for which the Nazis killed those of my religion, my blood, my sexual orientation, my ownership of newsstands, my outspoken political activism, etc etc.

As for Russia all my relatives that were in Russia were killed by the communists as far as I know...

Shturmovic wrote:

<quoted text>
You did not.

[michael]

Get out your history books and read of how the SA, Nazi Storm Troopers, Nazi bully boys in the EARLY 1930 established their total control by beating up all who opposed them, all that organized, all that spoke up. There is no moral difference between the EARLY NAZI state and Russia TODAY...

Just like there was no real difference between the Nazi Police State and the Communist Police State and its Gulags...

After all WW II wouldn't have started as it did without Stalin's Communists allying with Hitler's Nazis... to Enslave all of Eastern Europe.

Currently Russia is NOT as bad as Nazi Germany BECAME, but it is as bad as Nazi Germany was before 1940.

Shturmovic wrote:

Well, Russia is more conservative in its values than the West, and tis only right to discourage values that are contrary to the opinions of the majority.
After all, nobody is banning gay people, but only public demonstrations of said gay people.

[michael]

Pardon me for being a bit upset.

My grandfathers brother liberated Nazi Concentration camps, and it made him pretty crazy when he made it back to America, he never married and would sit and stare for hours crying and he would say he had seen such evil that he could never love and marry and have kids to grow up in such a world.

I have met numerous concentration camp survivors as well. one of the units that liberated concentration camps was locally recruited and every one of them has something to say about a government that would kill harmless fags and civilians.

And as a teacher of Military History, of German History and Russian History, I shudder at what I see happening in a country that routinely kills its journalists, beats up its presidential candidates, bans parties, breaks up protests, free assembly, fires elected governors and replaces them with appointed governors from above.

[BlueLamp]

Shturmovic wrote:

Well, Russia is more conservative in its values than the West, and tis only right to discourage values that are contrary to the opinions of the majority.
After all, nobody is banning gay people, but only public demonstrations of said gay people.

Whatever, Russia's health ministry, educated professionals in the fields of science, medicine and psychology, have stated repeatedly that homosexuality isn't a choice and isn't something that can be changed...so all you're referring to here is mixed messages by a single government, not "conservative values", mixed bigoted discriminatory messages.

[M_A_X_I_M]

michael wrote:

Your an idiot that can't read or understand English WHAT does this say ?
"should find a Russian Concentration camp survivor that can testify to media, I am a Russian Soldier that survived in German Nazi Concentration camps."
((( gay activists shoudl find a survivor that can testify that they are one who survived.))
I never in 100 years stated that I AM ONE...
However I would have died in Nazi Germany for at least 14 different offenses for which the Nazis killed those of my religion, my blood, my sexual orientation, my ownership of newsstands, my outspoken political activism, etc etc.
<quoted text>

Why do you so exaggerate?
If you are homosexual you can be homosexual in Russia. What's a problem? In Soviet times homosexualism was banned, today no. They live in Russia quite normaly.

I can't understand you're so agressive and blame our country constantly?

[Pravda]

Why_Me wrote:

<quoted text>
Your exactly correct ! Something must be done to stop the Kremlin fascist.
Here's an idea. "Sochi" A big gay demonstration while the Olympics are going on...think of all the press it would get. But remember gay's would have to enter Russia very indiscriminately for the fact fascit Putin and his goons will be watching for anything that looks amiss right before and during the Olympics.
But if enough gay people made it into Russia and had a large enough protest at or very near Sochi the press would jump all over that story, and Tsar Putin would end up with mud on his face.
So if you have any pull in the gay community you might want to relay that message I just posted on here.
:)

lolololololololol
you can be the lading gay heading the parade with a rainbow flag! i can picture it now LOL