World of Chig   

8.5.09
No Pride in Moscow

The stage is set for unrest and possible riots in Red Square on the day of the Eurovision final next week. The mayor of Moscow has now done what most of us thought he wouldn't dare to do this year, even though he's done it before - he has banned the Moscow lesbian and gay Pride parade. It has always been planned for Eurovision final day, with most people assuming that the glare of publicity (and the presence of so many films crews in Moscow for the contest) would prevent it being banned, as Moscow gritted its teeth and tried to appear more tolerant to Europe's media. But no. Moscow's mayor doesn't care about that. He has a homophobic agenda to maintain.

Had I been going to Moscow, I would have been looking forward to taking part in the Pride celebrations. Needless to say, the organisers of the parade say they're going ahead anyway. Previous Moscow Prides have seen protesters being beaten up by fascists while the police stood idly by, or even joined in. Saturday 16th should be interesting. I'm expecting to see plenty of Europe's schlager queens on the barricades.

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