By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, Apr 25 2007 (IPS)

Russian gays are preparing another battle in support of their rights following state repression leading up to a planned rally to mark gays and lesbians day May 27 last year.

Moscow mayor Yury Luhzkov has again banned the proposed rally this year. Following last year’s ban Russian gay leader Nikolay Alekseyev filed an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights.

Russian gays are now campaigning both within and outside the country for their cause. They are drawing considerable international support.

“The violent suppression of gay groups is an ugly day for all Russians who adhere to democratic norms and who treasure liberty and justice. Democracy and human rights are the losers, and this simply signifies another case of Russia’s appalling human rights record,” Peter Tachell, human rights campaigner for the Britain-based gay group OutRage told IPS.

“If a few peaceful gay protesters can be treated as enemies of the state, then the likelihood that Russia will tolerate dissent from any other quarters looks highly improbable.”

Tachell said restrictions on the Moscow Gay Pride rally violate the Russian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, both of which guarantee the right to peaceful protest.

But the Moscow mayor has been getting considerable political support for his stand against a gay rally.

“We don’t meddle with what they (western politicians) do in their beds, we don’t gossip about the lovemaking rumours they spread, so please you don’t put your finger into our life, don’t impose your standards upon us,” parliamentarian Lyubov Sliska told Russia’s Channel 3 television.

“I was somewhat uncomfortable to hear mayors of some large European cities trying to blame Luzhkov for violating human rights,” she said. “We violate nobody’s rights but we also want nobody to violate ours.”

Sliska there are almost 80 percent Orthodox (Christianity) believers in Russia. “We are a democratic country but we cannot disregard the ages-long traditions Russia has always followed.”

Sliska’s arguments have left the gay community unconvinced.

The persistent move to ban gay parades is “further indication that democratic freedoms in Russia are under threat,” Scott Long, director of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights programme at the U.S. based Human Rights Watch told IPS.

“For decades on all continents, gay and lesbian citizens have made themselves visible through gay pride marches in order to combat stigma and misunderstanding about who we are,” executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Paula Ettelbrick told IPS. “Through these marches and rallies, lesbians and gay men publicly express their rights to dignity and respect.”

Ettelbrick said that when leaders of European cities speak out against what are commonly viewed as violations, they are merely exercising their responsibility to hold their neighbours responsible for upholding global expectations.

Gay rights are the same as democratic rights, she said. “The popular opinion is democracy is measured by the level of freedom citizens enjoy. If government authorities regularly threaten or deny the right to speak publicly about the stigma and discrimination they face, there is little democracy.”

Bans on gay activities under national security laws are unfortunate, she said.

“It is hard to imagine how the desire of one individual to love another can be a threat to national security. National security is threatened by outside forces, by indiscriminate terrorist acts, by excruciating poverty that undermines national morale and productiveness, and by leaders who rule without regard to the rights of their citizens.”

Russia is among the most homophobic countries in Europe, gay activists say. Gays and lesbians have fewer legal rights and protection than those in other European countries. Only Poland has a worse record.

Russian religious leaders, whether of the Orthodox faith, Muslim or Jewish, are backing Luhzkov in banning any gay parades. “Their encouragement of homophobic prejudice makes a mockery of their pious claims that their faith is about love and compassion,” Tachell said.

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