The Russian town of Strezhevoy agreed to hold a gay pride parade, then withdrew the invitation days later out of concern that children might see the event, The Independent reports.
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On July 12, gay rights activist Nikolay Alexeev posted a letter from town officials approving the march to the social media website VK. “The authorities of the city of Strezhevoy in the Tomsk region have just agreed to hold a gay parade march!” he wrote in Russian. “The action will take place on July 24! Strezhevoy may become the first city in Russia where the gay parade procession will take place with the approval of the authorities.”
Two days later, however, Alexeev posted another update to VK, revealing that officials were withdrawing permission for the parade on account of a law to protect “children from information that may harm their health or development” and out of concern that the event could be perceived as LGBT+ propaganda and could be unsafe for participants.
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Alexeev, hoping to organize Russia’s first gay pride event, had sent 378 requests to cities across the country, he said. He was also behind a Russian pride event that was canceled 24 hours after it was announced last year. Now he’s planning on submitting the official refusals he has received to the European Court of Human Rights, according to The Independent.
darklight413
I’m shocked that in an extremely homophobic country they would ban a pride parade!! ? Tomorrow’s top stories, rain is wet and the sun is bright! Keep up the riveting journalism guys!
Goforit
To begin with, this is not a story about “an extremely homophobic country” banning a pride parade. It is about an extremely brave man risking his life in an extremely homophobic country by petitioning 378 cities to hold a pride parade. One city agreed until they realized that Putin would be pissed and withdrew their permission for the parade. More light, not less, needs to be shown upon such heroes. So your ridicule of Queerty for reporting on it is completely uncalled for.
GageRoberts1268
I’m shocked that in an extremely homophobic ….- I can’t agree with you more But i am here not only to discuss this article but I AM LOOKING for NEW boyfriend. My whatsapp number is ‘ 17732425635’ . Drop me some lines only if you are single and really miss for love and pleasure..
Chrisk
I’m surprised they even went through the pretense of it. Yeah, I’m sure it was all about protecting children. Eye roll.
Aires the Ram
Yeah, Russia is a tough place to be homosexual, to be sure. But you same ones talking about this, also think you have it bad here under President Trump. Look around yourselves, look at the rest of the world. You all have it pretty damn good. But that doesn’t fit your political narrative does it?
Juanjo
The fact that Russia [or some other country] is more homophobic than the United States does not excuse the homophobia in this country. Your comment is a classroom example of a complete failure of logic and reasoning. It rates right up there with Trump’s bullshiite about “going back” to your own country and fixing it on the stupidity scale.
Cam
The right wing troll accounts always make it so easy to spot them.
So by it’s definition. A woman who was raped shouldn’t complain because another woman was raped and murdered, so compared to that she has it “Pretty Good”.
By your definition, NOBODY in the world could ever point out any injustices as long as there is one place in the world that is a nightmare. My My My, how convenient for racists, bigots, sexists, etc…. to get a free pass.
batesmotel
Children are seeing other things regardless. If that’s important that children don’t see it, then don’t allow Children into the festival. It’s that simple.