Amnesty International - Russia: St. Petersburg must allow Pride to go ahead

[pampango]

LGBT activist Yuri Gavrikov (c) from Ravnopravie took part in a Pride in Arhus, Denmark last month
where hundreds of people joined a solidarity action for the St. Petersburg LGBT pride

The St. Petersburg authorities must allow a peaceful Pride march organized by the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to go ahead as planned on Saturday, 7 July, Amnesty International said after an agreement for the event was withdrawn.

St. Petersburg Pride organizers applied to authorities in different districts of the city to agree on a route for the event in advance. An agreement had been reached earlier this week to hold it at Poliustrov Park on the city’s outskirts, but on Thursday the authorities backtracked on this plan, citing numerous complaints against the decision as the reason for the change.

“It is time for St. Petersburg to portray itself as a global city where tolerance and respect for human rights are held high and where there is no place for discrimination,” said Sergei Nikitin, Director of the Moscow Office of Amnesty International.

St. Petersburg authorities have suggested on a number of occasions that Pride organizers hold the event in remote areas of the city, only to withdraw their agreement at the last minute. “Such behaviour paints the St. Petersburg authorities in a very negative light, as they are flouting their international obligations to protect the basic human rights of all city residents,” said Nikitin.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/russia-st-petersburg-must-allow-pride-go-ahead-2012-07-06

[Brickbat]

1. Last I heard, they were going to rally no matter what the city said.

Strength and solidarity to them. I used to live there; this makes me sad.

[grasswire]

2. a family member of mine -- college student -- is going in Sept.

.....to spend a year in St. Petersburg immersed in a home-stay. He is a double major in Russian and History. Aside from the Hermitage, what must-sees are there for him?

And, so as not to hijack this thread; he will have a hard time respecting the anti-gay sentiment there, as he has many GLBT friends and a dear gay godfather.