People spoke out for and against gays in Moscow

On Saturday, the capital's Orthodox community held a rally on Bolotnaya Square demanding a permanent ban on the gay pride parade, which they called a “procession of mental perverts.” The gay pride parade planned for May 28 in Moscow is, indeed, “due to numerous requests from citizens” banned by the capital’s authorities. True, already on Sunday gays and anarchists held a reciprocal march “against patriarchy” along Gogolevsky Boulevard, and the organizers of the parade told Kommersant that they did not intend to abandon their plans.

About five hundred representatives of the People's Council movement, the Eurasian Youth Union, and the public organization Family, Love, Fatherland gathered on Bolotnaya Square to protest against the gay pride parade in Moscow. The start of the rally had to be postponed due to a thunderstorm: the rally participants hid under trees and began to accuse the capital’s authorities of sending the rain on purpose. One of the grandmothers who came to the rally called Moscow government officials “lesbian bastards.” Only an elderly man with a poster “President Medvedev, do not give flowers to blue singer Elton John. We are Rus', not England. It’s a shame” was left to get wet in the rain.

The end of the rain was greeted by those gathered with exclamations of “Glory to Russia!”, and the chairman of the central council of the People’s Council, Vladimir Khomyakov, came to the microphone. “The European Court of Human Rights has made a blatant decision to allow our mental perverts to hold a march,” he announced. “They are trying to make their pathology become the norm, but we will not allow it!”

The next gay pride parade was planned in Moscow on May 28. However, the city authorities banned it “at numerous requests from citizens,” despite the fact that the Strasbourg court declared previous such bans illegal. The organizer of the parade, Nikolai Alekseev, however, told Kommersant that the action will still take place, and its ban will be appealed in the same way in Strasbourg.

The rally "For the sovereignty of Russia", organized by Orthodox activists, took place on Bolotnaya Square
Photo: Alexander Shcherbak, Kommersant

“We are glad that the authorities are with the people. All people are against this monstrous immorality,” Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman of the synodal department for interaction between church and society of the Moscow Patriarchate, supported the position of the Moscow government. “How was it possible to allow these parades at all? After all, Russia is closest to God, and yet this is happening here,” complained Vladimir Krupin, co-chairman of the Union of Writers of the Russian Federation. In the crowd, among the banners and posters with angry inscriptions, a large banner appeared with the inscription “No one will replace Mom and Dad.”

Gays, as well as anarchists and feminists who joined them, held a response action on Sunday. They marched in an unsanctioned “March of Equality” along Gogolevsky Boulevard. Two girls were carrying a sheet on which was written in paint: “My bed, my choice.” In total, about a hundred participants chanted “We don’t need Domostroy!” and “Down with conservatives!” “LGBT people have no time for the carnival, we need to fight for our rights,” one of the march participants explained to a Kommersant correspondent as they walked (there is no consensus on the advisability of holding parades in the gay community). The march participants simply ran away from the only policeman they encountered on the boulevard.

Having reached almost the Kropotkinskaya metro station, activists began handing out leaflets to passers-by. “Our main goal is to destroy patriarchy in society,” a feminist named Lena told Kommersant. Four young people who were drinking low-alcohol canned cocktails on the boulevard entered into a discussion with the protesters. “In principle, I’m not against lesbians,” said one of them. “But fagots are too much.”

Mr. Alekseev told Kommersant that the gay pride organizing committee will announce where it will be held on Friday. Orthodox activists are preparing to disrupt it. “We will disperse,” Yuri Ageshchev, coordinator of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods of the Russian Orthodox Church, promised Kommersant. “True, last year, due to a misunderstanding, we were taken to the police station, but this time we will not give in. It will be hot.”

Andrey Kozenko

The square and the boulevard have diverged in orientation