moscow pride

Moscow Pride is scheduled for May 28, 2011. Because of the recent European Court ruling, activists in Moscow, including Moscow Pride Chief Organiser, Nikolai Alekseev, are hopeful that for the first time, Moscow Pride will be an officially sanctioned event. However, the new Mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has made it clear that his position isn’t far from that of the previous mayor, who described gay marches as 'satanic'.

2011 will mark the first state-sanctioned gay pride in Moscow. To celebrate, organiser and recently kidnapped gay rights advocate, Nikolai Alekseev, is encouraging LGBT people from all over the world, and our allies, to attend and make Moscow Pride 2011 an international celebration.

The Court's decision can be seen as a significant legal victory for Russian LGBTI activists. They are now equipped with a very solid legal tool to fully exercise their constitutional right to organise public events and express their opinions.