Russian authorities blocked gay pride parade because of hazardous weather


nsnbc : Russian authorities blocked a gay pride parade in the town of Teriberka, north of the Arctic Circle, over what they claimed are health dangers posed by possible hurricane winds and bad weather.

Gay pride parade canceled over hazardous weather - allegedly_Russia_Feb 2018Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev had planned to hold the parade on February 9 in Teriberka, a desolate town of just over 1,000 people. The parade was planned as part of his and fellow activists’ campaign to host LGBT rallies in 185 cities and towns across Russia.

A law banning “gay propaganda” has significantly reduced the number of gay pride events in the country since it passed in 2013. However, banning or blocking a gay pride parade just because the law stipulates that “gay  propaganda” is illegal is controversial – even in a neo-patriarchal, post-Soviet neo-religious, and retro-moralistic country like the Russian Federation.

But, authorities in Teriberka didn’t have to cope with such controversy – or so they thought – because hey, let’s blame the weather instead. Town officials cited bad weather conditions in their refusal to allow the rally, including low temperatures and hurricane force winds that could endanger the health of the citizens who would participate in the event, according to an official letter dated January 31 that Nikolai Alexeyev posted on his VKontakte social media page.

Speaking wit The Moscow Times, Alexeyev said “I have never received an answer like this (before)”, adding that “95 percent of the time” the authorities cite the 2013 gay propaganda law when refusing his applications for events. “What are they, meteorologists now?” he asked.

And, it appears is if Teriberka authorities have other “good reasons” to ban the parade; Reasons that have nothing to do with the prohibition of gay propaganda but everything with other attempts to avoid whatever could disturb the glossy Potemkin’s village illusion of modern Russia where gay’s don’t exist and everybody – purportedly – has to live in luxury housing.

Teriberka officials also cited the presence of dilapidated homes along the route of the rally in their refusal, claiming that the houses could collapse and hurt the participants. Alexeyev told The Moscow Times that the march was planned in Teriberka specifically because of its fame: It was the set for the 2014 Golden Globe-winning film “Leviathan.”

“We are appealing in court,” Alexeyev said. “If needed, we will take it to the European Court of Human Rights.” Now, what did the allegedly not-so-gay-friendly weather gods say to all of this? Winds in Teriberka were expected to reach maximum speed of 9 meters per second on February 9, according to the Gismeteo weather service. Hardly enough even to make a rainbow flag fly in the wind.

CH/L – nsnbc 03.02.2018



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2018/02/03/russian-authorities-blocked-gay-pride-parade-because-of-hazardous-weather/

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