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Moscow court rejects appeal, reaffirms 100-year ban on LGBT pride events

Moscow court rejects appeal, reaffirms 100-year ban on LGBT pride events

The Moscow City Court on Friday again confirmed its 100-year ban on all LGBT pride events in the Russian capital, and rejected an appeal by Nikolai Alekseyev, the leader of a Russian gay rights community and the organizer of previous gay pride events.

Nikolai Alekseyev

Alekseyev wanted the case to be passed to the Presidium of the Moscow City Court for reconsideration, reported Russia Today.

Alekseyev said he would report about the ruling to the Ministers’ Committee of the Council of Europe, which in September will consider the legality of the Alekseyev vs. Russia case that banned LGBT pride events in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

“In the nearest future we will contest the authorities’ actions over the 100-year ban on gay pride events in the European Court of Human Rights. Through this we will eventually achieve that the bans are recognized as unlawful, not only for the past, but for the future gay parades in the Russian capital,” the Interfax news agency quoted Alekseyev as saying.

On June 6, the Moscow City Court upheld a previous ruling by the Tverskoy district, which ruled that the Moscow municipal government’s ban gay pride parades from March 2012 till May 2112, was lawful.

The ban came after gay rights activists in Moscow submitted requests on August 23, to the City Hall to hold gay rallies up until 2112.

The activists sought to use a loophole in the law that only determines the deadline for submitting rally applications (no later than 30-45 days before the event), but does not state how far in advance events can be submitted.

The Russian government began a legal campaign this year against alleged “homosexual propaganda.”

A law against promotion of homosexuality and pedophilia was approved and enacted in St. Petersburg, prompting a group of parliamentarians to suggest approving a similar national law.

In April, Russia openly distanced itself from language included in a joint statement released by the G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting Chairman on that supported the rights and freedoms of LGBT individuals.

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