Moscow Pride - Views of Yuri Luzhkov

Views of Yuri Luzhkov

Yuri Luzhkov, who was Mayor of Moscow until being dismissed in September 2010, consistently opposed gay parades in the capital for a variety of reasons. In 2007 he attracted international attention when he said of the 2006 parade: "Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which cannot be called anything other than satanic. We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future." He blamed groups which he accused of receiving grants from the West for spreading what he called "this kind of enlightenment" in Russia. "We think that destructive sects and propaganda of same-sex love are inadmissible", he said of attempts to promote gay rights in Russia. He also thanked Alexy II, the then head of the Russian Orthodox Church, for backing him in banning the 2006 Pride. In response, Moscow Pride organisers sued Luzhkov for slander. Nikolai Baev and Nikolai Alekseev sought a retraction of the statement that the parade was "satanic" and demanded 2,000 roubles (around $80) in damages. The suit was heard by the Moscow City Court, which found in favour of Luzhkov on 11 October. It decided that Luzhkov "had not attacked Alekseev and Baev personally, but only the gay parade in general, and also concurred that Luzhkov was expressing a personal opinion". The organisers plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

At an international AIDS conference in Moscow in 2008 Luzhkov said he would persist in banning gay pride parades in order to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. He commented: "We have banned and will continue to forbid this propaganda by sexual minorities, as they could turn out to be one of the factors in the spread of HIV infections Certain homegrown democrats believe that sexual minorities can be a primary indicator and symbol of democracy, but we will forbid the dissemination of these opinions in the future as well."

Luzhkov's stance has received support from various religious groups, including the Russian Orthodox Church, Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar, and the Muslim Grand Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin.