Gay rights parade
banned in Moscow; appeal is next

Gay rights parades will continue to be banned in Moscow, as the city council Monday upheld its policy prohibiting the events.

According to the Moscow Times, Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay activist in Moscow, said he would appeal to the Russian supreme court, which he hopes will reach a decision before the parade's scheduled date of May 27.

"We have exhausted our options for reversing this illegal decision within the Moscow court system," Alexeyev is quoted as saying in the article, adding that the ruling "opens the way to the supreme court."

Moscow's mayor, Yury Luzhkov, turned down a permit request for the gay rights parade last year, prompting organizers to challenge the decision in court, according to the report.

Another activist, Nikolai Bayev, filed a separate lawsuit against the mayor in February for calling such parades a "satanic act."

Both plaintiffs want Luzhkov to retract his remark and pay them each 1,000 rubles in damages. (The Advocate)