Public gestures of affection of the most innocent kind between a man and a woman, such as holding hands, can upset Sasha, a young gay man from Siberia.

They hurt him because much of Russian society rejects the right of he and his boyfriend to do the same.

However, if a bid to hold Russia's first Gay Pride parade pays off, Sasha and thousands of other gay men and women will take their sexual orientation to the streets of Moscow on 27 May.

It is a big "if" in the face of strong opposition from politicians who do not question the legal right of gay people to pursue their lifestyles in privacy, but do not want to see them making a show of it.

Clergy from Russia's two biggest faith groups, Russian Orthodox Christians and Muslims, have equally frowned upon the idea.

This week, the issue of the Moscow Pride electrified Moscow's media after a Muslim cleric was quoted as saying the paraders should be "thrashed by decent people".

It is a scenario which alarms Moscow's authorities in a year when Russia is entrusted with both stewardship of the G8 and, from 20 May, the Council of Europe - a body dedicated to promoting human rights.

Privacy and provocation

Inna Svyatenko, chairwoman of Moscow City Council's security commission, does not have a problem with the city's gay community.

BEING GAY IN RUSSIA

Sasha's story
"This city and civic society here are very protective of our sexual minorities," she says.

Gay people work freely in the city and are greatly respected for their contribution in areas such as retail and the creative professions, according to Ms Svyatenko.

They have their own clubs and, she adds, you need only look out the window of her downtown office to see where a gay lifestyle store opened its doors recently.

But she argues against the parade on three grounds:


that much of the gay community allegedly oppose it themselves

that similar events in East European capital cities like Riga last year ended in violent clashes

that the preferred route would cause massive traffic disruption.
According to her information, most gay people in Moscow do not want the Pride because "it is their private life and they do not want to put it on show" and because such an event could provoke violence.


"In our fragile society, do we really need to provoke a situation in which the ultra-right and so-called skinheads rise up and the law enforcement agencies are unable to guarantee the safety of the paraders?" she asks.

Of course, the police could suppress any disorder if necessary, she says, but nobody in the city authorities would be prepared to take responsibility for "artificially provoking the disorder".

To allow a parade down Tverskaya Street, Moscow's central artery, would cause massive disruption in a city already choked with traffic, she adds.

"If the gays chose an area on the outskirts of the city or somewhere in Moscow Region, I think the authorities might take a different view," she says.

Inna Svyatenko accuses the organisers of the parade, and their supporters outside Russia, of "wanting to make a name for themselves without any thought for the impact of such an event on other people like them".

"I realise there are certain European countries where these parades have a long history and nobody cares but let's not drag Russia into this - Russia is not ready," she argues.

Breaking the ice

The word "pidor", a corruption of "pederast", is still one of the most common terms of abuse in Russia.

Whatever the local objections in Moscow, the parade would mark the first-ever Pride in Russia as a whole and public tolerance of gay people is still largely confined to a few big cities.


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