Gay community to rally before U.S. embassy in Moscow during Obama visit
Jun 26, 2009 at 20:41 | Interfax-UkraineThe initiators of the picket filed notification with the administration of Moscow's Central Administrative District and plan picket on July 7, on the second day of Obama's visit, Nikolai Alexeyev, the leader of the Moscow gay community and the organizer of a number of gay parades that were routinely banned by Moscow authorities in the past, told Interfax on Friday.
"As the main motto of the future action, the gay activists have decided to use a rephrased motto of Barack Obama's election campaign, Yes We Can. The [gay] activists will hold the picket addressing the U.S. president, 'Yes You Can', implying the legalization of same-sex marriages," Alexeyev said.
"We are determined to gather for our action regardless of the Moscow authorities' decision," he said.
The Moscow authorities earlier refused to sanction gay parades in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The organizers have contested all these bans by filing appeals with the European Court of Human Rights.