Where the law does not work - references to traditions

It's just that the proverb doesn't argue about tastes. In real life, it is about them that people argue most of all. But in the end, there is nothing bad in arguing. Even if truth is not born in them, at least no one dies. It’s bad when the authorities make political decisions in accordance with their tastes. “I don’t like this,” decides a regional prince and, with one stroke of his pen, deprives a considerable number of people of their legal civil rights.

The authorities have come to terms with the existence of homosexuals in our country. Under Hitler they were sent to gas chambers, in the USSR they were put in camps, but in today's Russia the Criminal Code is merciful to them - this is not considered a crime. But the authorities also cannot recognize them as equal citizens. Why? But I don’t like it!

Last May, citizens of non-traditional sexual orientation tried to hold a gay pride parade in Moscow, similar to those that have been taking place in the capitals of many free states for many years. It ended in a massacre committed by the Moscow police and their voluntary assistants from among skinheads and Orthodox fundamentalists. However, representatives of the LGBT community (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender people) did not accept the position of second-class citizens and decided to seek their right to peaceful marches, which is guaranteed to them by a document called the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

On May 27, they intend to hold a procession in Moscow with the participation of 5 thousand people from the Post Office on Myasnitskaya to the Solovetsky Stone on Lubyanka. The slogan of the action is “The rights of sexual minorities are human rights.” An application has already been submitted to the mayor's office, and, according to unofficial data, a response has been received. The head of the department for work with security agencies of the Moscow government, Nikolai Kulikov, told RIA Novosti that “a meeting was held between representatives of the city administration and the organizers of this event, at which the initiators of the gay pride parade received an official refusal to hold this action.” Motivation: “holding a gay pride parade would violate the rights and interests of other citizens, which is contrary to current legislation.”

On May 14, at a press conference in the Moscow Helsinki Group, the organizer of the march, Nikolai Alekseev, announced that there were no meetings between the organizers of the action and representatives of the city authorities. They are not waiting for any permission for the march, this is their legal right, and the gay pride parade will take place in any case. An application has also been submitted to hold a gay pride parade in St. Petersburg.

The press conference was attended by State Duma deputy from the LDPR Alexei Mitrofanov, who, with a rare intelligibility for liberal democrats, insisted that people’s rights cannot be limited just because they have a different sexual orientation. Let supporters of this orientation march, let their opponents march, and even “Dissent Marches” should not be banned, Mitrofanov believes. He rated extremely low the legal level of the authorities’ motivation, as voiced by Mr. Kulikov. With such decisions, “we are straining the world,” and when it comes to denying entry visas to some Moscow officials, we will again complain about the machinations of the West, said Alexey Mitrofanov.

The world will indeed not remain indifferent to the events of May 27th. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis has already called Nikolai Alekseev and expressed his support to him. Many famous Western politicians, members of the European Parliament, not to mention journalists, will come to the gay pride parade. The problem of discrimination against a certain group of citizens ceases to be only their problem. “Protecting their rights is expanding the territory of our common freedom,” another participant in the press conference, Nikolai Khramov, explained his participation in organizing the gay pride parade. The very fact of holding a press conference in the MHG office speaks to the same thing.

The judicial prospect of banning the gay pride parade is obvious. Just at the beginning of May, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issued a decision condemning the Polish authorities for banning the gay pride parade in Warsaw in 2005. There is no doubt that a similar decision will be made regarding Russia. Yuri Luzhkov’s arguments that the gay pride parade is a “satanic act” or Nikolai Kulikov’s references to “the rights and interests of other citizens” are legally void. In a rule-of-law state, which Europe still seems to consider us to be, this cannot be a basis for restricting civil liberties.

What makes the Moscow government violate the Constitution? After all, this is not even a struggle for power or for business, which we are already accustomed to with talk of a “third term” or the dismantling of YUKOS. So what's the matter? But I don’t like it!

Of course, the authorities are uncomfortable in the position of a capricious child. Where there are no references to the law, there are references to traditions. But it may well happen that they will find legislative registration for their tastes. The fight against extremism is in fashion now. Why not, for example, introduce the concept of “sexual extremism” into the law and imprison under this article those who cynically, using the media and with disregard for public morality, publicly express their belonging to people of non-traditional sexual orientation? Quite in the spirit of the times.

Alas, in recent years we have become accustomed to the fact that the authorities make decisions not according to law, but according to their own tastes and interests. But what about the political parties whose programs contain beautiful words about human rights, democracy and the rule of law? Isn’t it paradoxical that only the LDPR deputy supported the discriminated group? And this, by the way, is not such a small group - 6-8% of the population, i.e. approximately 7-8 million voters. Are Democrats refusing these votes only because they are not used to speaking openly on this topic, considering it sensitive and not public? In this way, they are a little reminiscent of elementary school students who giggle into their fists when they see a naked human body in an anatomy textbook for the first time in their lives. Isn’t it time for the opposition to at least grow up and discuss sensitive topics, and not pretend that they don’t exist at all?