The Gay Pride Parade in Moscow was banned by the maliciously nationalist and bigoted Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, but a brave band of 50 people marched anyway. They were arrested, as well as assaulted by nationalist thugs.
I wrote in the Russian gay press on the issue, as well as on Cato.ru (with footnotes to the sources). Shorter versions were published in English here and here and a longer version (with more discussion of the disagreements among the Asian and European Muftis on the issue) was published in Arabic here.
As I noted, Russia faces a choice: whether to be an open society or a closed one, and that choice has ramifications far beyond mistreatment of gay people.
UPDATE: The vicious bigotry of the Mayor of Moscow was made rather more evident in his recent remarks on the radio, in his description of the assault on gay Russians attempting to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier:
“These gays go there, and openly go up to the monument. It is a contamination. People burst through and of course they beat them up,” he said.
Is the ban on the parade a reason good enough to call Mr. Luzhkov “maliciously nationalist and bigoted”? How much do you know about Luzhkov to judge? Is it a free and fare assessment?
There are plenty of reasons to call Mr. Luzhkov maliciously nationalist and bigoted. Banning a march of gay people because he thinks that gay people are “unnatural” is reason enough to call him bigoted. There are plenty of other reasons, to boot. And as for being a malicious nationalist, consider his restrictions on the right of movement into Moscow (which entails persecution of people from the Southern Caucausus, among others), his involvement in the “Fatherland” Party, and his populist and nationalist politics.
I cannot comment on the mayor of Moscow. I am not sure you got it 100% right there. There was an alliance from the start against the parade in the capital. The Rabbi, the Mufti and the orthodox Church in Moscow officially opposed the parade (for completely different reasons, by the way).
Anyway, all I know is that a compatriot of mine, Volker Beck, Member of the Bundestag (who was attending a conference in Moscow and later joined the parade), got wounded during an assault by extremists protesting the parade. He then was arrested by the police and interrogated for over one hour. Press reported that my colleagues from the German embassy had to intervene to obtain his release. NV
With regard to his bigotry, I believe I was spot on. His comments leave no other conclusion. As to his nationalism, his early support for Yeltsin was certainly benign, especially given the alternatives, but his later turn was to embrace a more nationalist (although nowhere as extreme as others) approach. Given his enforcement of restrictions on living in Moscow, and the way that they are enforced against “foreigners,” I think that the term fits. The news reported quite a huge police presence against the peaceful demonstrators, but virtually no protection of them against the nationalist and bigoted thugs. Very ugly and not a good sign for Russian democracy.
Regarding Yuriy Luzhkov — whether he’s nationalist I can’t say, but he’s clearly an authoritarian thug and quite corrupt.
His accomplishments include (but aren’t limited to):
Continuing enforcement of old (repealed) Soviet laws forbidding free immigration into Moscow — directed particularly at “undesirables” such as people from the Caucasus
Skimming millions from overbidding/underperformance on contract for the building of Moscow’s ring roads
Acting as Puton’s emmisary and campaigning directly for Yanukovich in Ukraine (and in Moscow) during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election
Tolerating and possibly encouraging the growth of skinhead groups, who are turned loose on other groups the authorities don’t like but don’t want to go after themselves (as in the case Tom documents here).
Friends of mine in Moscow (both Russians and Americans) tell me that the skinhead problem is becoming increasingly serious, and that the city and federal authorities are (in part) behind it.
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