St. Petersburg - Plans are being made to hold yet another gay pride parade in St. Petersburg on July 7, leader of the Russian gay movement Nikolai Alexeyev told Interfax.
"The pride parade will take place on July 7. It will be organized by gay activists from the Ravnopraviye (Equality) movement led by Yury Gavrikov. We are going to seek the authorities’ permission for the event," Alexeyev said.
Our main goal is to obtain a formal permit from the authorities for holding the event, he said. "For us, the venue does not matter as much as the permission itself," he added.
If the city authorities refuse to allow the event, gay activists will take to the streets anyway, Alexeyev said. "If we are not allowed to hold the pride parade, we will go out in the city center without permission," the activist said.
Gays have been trying to hold a gay pride parade in St. Petersburg for several years now. None of their applications has ever been agreed upon by the city authorities.
