Tag Archives: Russia

Earlier this month Facebook debuted a relationship status icon for gay couples. Now the Russian Orthodox Church is demanding that Facebook “stop flirting with sodomites” or else they’ll call for a national ban on the site. In just three days the activists managed to obtain 34,000 signatures, said the leader of the Orthodox public organization, Vladimir Roslyakovsky. The goal is …

Yesterday only a handful of brave activists defied the St. Petersburg ban on public pro-gay demonstrations and almost all of them were arrested. Three rally organizers were arrested Saturday at a park in Russia’s second city, and five others were detained at a later rally attempt near the landmark Smolny complex, Russian news agencies reported. Only six people showed up …

A Moscow court has banned gay pride events for the next hundred years. Tverskoy district court ruled lawful the decision of the Moscow municipal government to ban public events that can be qualified as gay parades from March 2012 till May 2112. Nikolay Alekseyev, one of the leaders of the Russian LGBT community and organizer of gay pride events, told …

The 754-member European Parliament has approved a resolution denouncing nations with current or pending anti-gay legislation. The item specifically calls out Russia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The UK’s Pink News reports: The resolution was adopted with 430 in favour and 105 against, saying it was “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis …

Violence broke out in Moscow today when members of the Russian Orthodox Church attacked a small group of gay activists who were attempting to stage an illegal gay pride parade. More than 10 people were arrested outside the Moscow City Duma Sunday, where gay rights activists had planned to hold to protest a new law being discussed that would ban …

Move over Newt Gingrich, you’ve got company. At the Global Space Exploration Conference, which started on May 22 — the same day SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon capsule towards the ISS, which is why NASA administrator Charles Bolden was absent from the conference — Russia and Japan laid out their plans for space exploration, both focusing on Earth’s natural satellite. …

Just watching this makes my balls ache.UPDATE: About the bridge. The bridge to the Russky Island will be one of the world’s largest cable-stayed bridges, the 1104m long central span of which will establish a new record in the world bridge building practice. The bridge will also have the world’s highest bridge towers and the longest cable stays.

UDPATE: Commenters point out that things got ugly after the above clip was recorded. Several gay rights activists have suffered injuries after being assaulted during and after a chaotic demonstration in St.Petersburg. Dozens gathered in a city center park to mark International Day Against Homophobia. City authorities had sanctioned the demonstration, and a police unit shielded participants as they chanted …

According to a just-published poll, almost half of the people in Russia believe that gayness is acquired through exposure in the media. “Forty-seven percent of the respondents said media and propaganda were the key factors contributing to development of a person’s non-traditional sexual orientation,” the pollster said in a press release issued Thursday. Among other vital factors that impact the …

Fascinating to see such stiff-legged pomp and circumstance. It all almost feels like a parody of the Soviet era.

The first person to be fined under St. Petersburg’s ban on “gay propaganda” is renowned activist Nikolai Alexeyev. A St. Petersburg court handed down its first conviction under the city’s new anti-gay law on Friday, ordering a leading gay activist to pay a 5,000-ruble fine for his picket against the law. The district court ruled that Nikolai Alexeyev had promoted …

Via email: LGBT human rights abuse under the new “homosexual propaganda” law continues in St. Petersburg. Today 11 LGBT activists of St. Petersburg were arrested for carrying rainbow flags as part of the May 1st civil rights and freedom march on Nevsky prospect, city’s main avenue. This year’s May 1st march is a peaceful demonstration, permitted by the city administration. …

The local legislature in Siberia has become the fourth Russian body to ban “gay propaganda.” These laws effectively outlaw gay parades and publications. Bigger than the entire United States by one-third, Siberia is by far the largest region in Russia, comprising 77% of the nation’s total area. “It’s mainly about various gay parades… about their promotion among minors. It’s about …

(Via Towleroad)

Having succeeded in making homosexuality essentially illegal in St. Petersburg and two other regions, the Russian Orthodox Church is now pushing for a national federal ban on any public mention or “promotion” of LGBT-related events and publications. But today the church is being ridiculed nationwide due to a photoshop scandal. Facing a scandal over photographs of its leader wearing an …

Spiegel Online has the story: For the first time, police in St. Petersburg, Russia, have made arrests on the strength of a new law banning the dissemination of information on homo-, bi- and transsexuality. Two men were arrested in the city center on Thursday after holding up a sign reading “Homosexuality Is Normal,” according to the newswire Interfax. Russia’s second-largest …

Here’s an energetic and well choreographed Moscow flash mob. I don’t know the reason (anyone read Russian?), I just wanted to use my headline.(Tipped by JMG reader Jim)

Activists today filed a legal challenge to St. Petersburg’s ban on the “promotion” of homosexuality, which went into effect last month. According to the activists the law is inconsistent with the federal legislation. In particular it contradicts the administrative code of Russia by using such terms as “propaganda”, “bisexualsm”, “transgenderism”, “traditional and nontraditional family relationships”, none of which are defined …

The Russian Parliament is considering a national version of the “don’t say gay” bill that became law last month in St. Petersburg. The bill calls for fines of up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500) for “spreading homosexual propaganda” among minors. The legislation was submitted Thursday to the State Duma by lawmakers from the central Novosibirsk region who blamed media for promoting …