New Moscow Mayor No Gay Pride Fan

Acting Moscow mayor Vladimir Resin, who took office this week after the abrupt removal of Yury Luzhkov, appears determined to continue his predecessor's opposition to a gay pride march.

According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Resin dismissed reports Wednesday that the march organized by gay rights activist Nikolai Alekseev had been officially sanctioned for the first time under his leadership. Luzhkov repeatedly blocked the march and called gay rights advocates "satanic."

"I have not heard of this, I treat everyone equally, but in this case I do not support this," said Resin, as reported by RIA Novosti.

Luzhkov, who served as mayor of the Russian capital for 18 years, was fired Tuesday by President Dmitry Medvedev following a period of pronounced defiance toward the Kremlin.

Speculation that Resin would allow the banned parade stemmed from a blog post Wednesday by Alekseev, who wrote that Moscow officials would allow a picket of the Swiss Air Lines office on October 1. The airline is under attack for its role in the September 15 incident where Alekseev was illegally detained by security officials at the Domodedovo airport in Moscow.