Moscow gay pride organizer convicted

A Moscow court on June 9 convicted Nikolay Alexeyev, the organizer of a gay pride march, of holding an illegal demonstration and resisting police. He was fined $1000 rubles. Before the sentence was rendered Alexeyev walked out of the courtroom in protest, calling the proceeding a "farce." Alexeyev accused the judge of refusing to hear defense evidence and said he would refuse to pay the fine. Another organizer of last month's parade, Nikolay Khramov, was also fined. Both are expected to appeal the sentences. In all, about 20 people were arrested at the May 27 parade. Two European parliamentarians and British gay advocate Peter Tatchell were among them. About 100 people had attempted to hold the gay parade despite the refusal of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov to issue a permit. Waiting for the gay marchers were members of extreme right nationalist groups, Russian Orthodox churchgoers, and young militants. The crowd pelted the gay group with eggs and started a number of skirmishes until police moved in arresting the gay leaders. A woman threw a bottle of water on Tatchell and then a young man in military fatigues hit him in the head. The British rights leader was led away by police. Police were accused of doing nothing to stop the angry mob. "I didn't feel protected," said Vladimir Luxuria, the first transgender member of Italian Parliament after she was released. A Moscow court in April tossed out a lawsuit accusing Mayor Lushkov of libel over claims he made that gay rights marches were "satanic." The court ruled that Moscow Pride leaders had failed to prove that the remarks were incendiary or intended to vilify gays in general. In January during a Kremlin meeting before leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, Lushkov said that gay rights marches were "satanic." The speech was broadcast on Moscow television. Lushkov then went on to blast gay unions. "Some European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce sexual guides in schools," Lushkov said in the speech broadcast on Moscow television. "Such things are a deadly moral poison for children." Moscow Pride called Lushkov's remarks a "smear campaign" against gays and lesbians and filed the lawsuit. Last year, Lushkov refused to give a permit for the gay parade citing security concerns. Despite the ban, marchers attempted to hold a parade. Police quickly moved in, arresting marchers and counter-protesters.