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Russia
Feral:
Doug Ireland has defended Moscow Pride against false accusations with some serious accusations of his own.
--- Quote ---Moscow Pride 2006 has just published the complete budget for its operations -- showing how it spent its money and where it came from. Nicolas Alexeyev and the Russian organizers of the events took out personal loans to help finance Moscow Pride, despite which it was forced to run up a substantial deficit of nearly 28,000 Euros. Publishing their budget and their sources of financing is a remarkable example of responsible organizational transparency (would that our U.S. gay organizations were as open about their spending.) This was a necessary step, since some gay bar owners with sinister motives have slanderously accused Moscow Pride organizers of pocketing some of the monies.
The shady Moscow gay bar owners were afraid of having problems with Moscow's authoritarian city government that would hurt their businesses because of the Moscow mayor's ban on Moscow Pride, so they opposed it. We all are too familiar with under-the-table payoffs to police made by gay bar owners in many countries, including the U.S., especially in times past. Moscow gay bar culture is rather like that of the U.S. in the '50s, '60s, and early '70s, when nearly all gay bars were linked to organized crime. I can well recall the famous struggle in 1975 for control of New York City's Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade Committee -- which then ran New York's gay pride march -- and which had been taken over by mobbed-up gay bar owners, who reaped an enormous profit from the end-of-parade festival on Christopher Street. Gay activists under the leadership of the late, beloved Vito Russo (pioneer gay liberation activist, author of The Celluloid Closet, and later a leader of ACT UP) conducted an effective struggle to take back the Christopher Street Parade Committee from the shadowy bar owners, and defeated them in a vote at a huge and tumultuous gay community meeting (at which the "connected" bar owners tried to pack the meeting with rather obviously non-gay, louche types from Little Italy.)
--- End quote ---
The degree to which organized crime fed off the US gay community (especially in New York) like a tapeworm is not much remembered. So many of those who witnessed those times are dead. Still, it is not a good memory. Moscow Pride's accounts are here. Mr. Ireland speaks of "shady bar owners," yet the story on gayrussia appears to quote specific accusations. Just who is making these claims about Mr. Alexeyev?
Mogul:
A sociological survey performed by the Public Opinion Foundation has revealed some additonal statistics about views on homosexuals in Russia.
Q: Do you personally know any homosexuals (gays or lesbians)?
A: 87% "No"; 11% "Yes"; 2% "Can't answer".
Q: How do you personally judge about homosexuals - with condemnation or without?
A: 47% "with condemnation"; 40% "without condemnation"; 13% "Can't answer".
Q: What do you think, in case someone is a homosexual, shall he hide this fact from public knowledge?
A: 53% "Shall hide this"; 28% "Shall not hide this", 19% "Can't answer".
Q: Recently the administration of Moscau has forbidden the performing of a "Gay Parade" in the city. Do you think the administration did right by doing so?
A: 77% "Yes"; 9% "No"; 14% "Can't answer".
From those who personally know homosexual people, only 28% see them "with condemnation", while 63% without. Compared with the general percentage, the most effective way to fight homophobia seems to get out to each and everyone. Unfortunately, this can have deadly consequences: 24% of respondents have severely condemned homosexuality ("amoral", "sin", "adultery", "dirt", "mental sickness" etc.), further 7% think that homosexuals should be killed.
Feral:
Human Rights Watch has published a briefing paper about the events in Moscow on 27 May. It is also available as a PDF file.
Mogul:
Interestigly, on the same day (27.05.2006) when the planned Gay Pride in Moscow was disrupted and led to riots, apparently a kind of gay pride was successfully performed in the city of St Petersburg.
The website contains several photographs, demonstrating this fine piece of gay pride:
While russian gay media entirely ignored this happening, a catholic website bitterly complains about the inconveniencies the church-goers have suffered:
"Of the profanity of the Cathedral on the Day of City
On 27th of May, the day of founding of Saint-Petersburg, the provocative show had taken place on the square next to the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. The content of that show, never publicized before, warrant us to bring attention to this outrageous fact.
The obscene dances and vulgar performances with participation of the scantly dressed woman and transvestites were given during the whole evening on the stage, erected with no knowledge of St. Catherine parish’s administration. It was offending not only the feelings of the parishioners who attended the services, but also all decent citizens who came to celebrate the festivities with kids.
The soundtracks loudly played made it impossible to perform the evening service, while a group of drunken spectators blocked the access to the main entrance of the Cathedral. The members of the police department looked indifferently on the disorder of the mob that had thrown aside all restrains, while the church’s premises were left unguarded. Lucking any self-control, the audience of so called “The Parade of Love” organized by popular among gays “Central Station” club loudly bursted into the Cathedral, drank alcoholic beverages and urinated at the church’s main and side entrances. The sacred place was desecrated. We think that those who organized this disgusting show and those who had given a permit to organize the show in this place are responsible for all offences taken by the people, whose moral and religious feelings were defiled."
What we can learn from this? 1) Russia is diverse; 2) Good organization rulez!š :=V
Mogul:
The portal GayRussia.ru reports the results of a recent survey on homophobia in Russian Federation (performed by Levada center). Compared with the year 2005, certain decrease of homophobia can be recorded, nevertheless gays face little understanding.
Question: "Do you think that consensual homosexual acts between adult person shall be persecuted as crime in Russia?"
Answers 2005: 43.5 % "Yes" 37.9 % "No" 18.6 % "can't answer"
Answers 2006: 37.4 % "Yes" 45.3 % "No" 17.2 % "can't answer"
-------------------- --------------------- ----------------------------------------
- 6.1 % + 7.4 % not significant
Question: "Russian Law prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality, race, religion; alike instigation of hate on same grounds. Do you think that the Law shall prohibit discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation?"
Answers 2005: 42.8 % "Yes" 36.1 % "No" 21.1 % "can't answer"
Answers 2006: 45.3 % "Yes" 29.2 % "No" 25.5 % "can't answer"
-------------------- --------------------- ----------------------------------------
+ 2.4 % - 6.9 % + 4.4 %
In 2005, 14.3 % supported the idea of gay mariage, while 73.4 % opposed it (in comparison, in the Netherlands gay marriage was supported by 80% of respondents).
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