Gay Rights Parade is a First in Russia
May 28, 2006 by Melissa
Although it became a violent affair, the leader of the march considered it a “great victory.” Nikolai Alexeyev, 26, organized a march of about 40 activists planning to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Saturday. The Tomb is one of Russia’s sacred places for its association with the end of fascism.
Instead of laying flowers, however, police barred the activits from the park where the Tomb of the Unknown Solder resides.
The parade, a first in Russia’s history, ended in violence as a group of nearly 100 people arrived to stop the activists by force. However, police quickly controlled the situation. The fairness of their actions is under question as more gay and lesbian activists were seemingly arrested than those who came to incite the violence.
About the demonstration:
Other gay activists had disapproved of the demonstration, claiming it was a risky move given Russia’s widespread intolerance of homosexuality. The parade was meant to mark the culmination of several days of festivities planned as part of Russia’s first Gay Pride festival.Homosexuality was illegal in Russia until 1993, and public displays of affection between same-sex couples are almost unheard of.
Read the entire article: “First Russian Gay Rights Parade Ends in Violence.”
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The event in Moscow was nothing short of historic. This happens after international LGBT activists converged on Moscow to further the internationalization of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement.
In the past few months we have seen international cooperation among LGBT populations to expand the gay rights movement in the Ivory Coast, Bulgaria and China. The next few years will be a testing ground. It’s a very historic time for the LGBT Movement, and everyone should pay close attention to it.