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UID:Indybay-18673972
SEQUENCE:18752283
CREATED:20110306T221500Z
DESCRIPTION:In his continuing campaign to spread the word about this May's Moscow Gay 
 Pride and thus hopefully forestall threatened repression by the Russian 
 authorities, the country's foremost gay leader, Nikolai Alekseev, will 
 speak in San Francisco Monday evening, March 7.  \n\nDue to an eleventh 
 hour cancellation of the room reservation for the event by the host venue, 
 Metropolitan Community Church, 150 Eureka Street, attendees are asked to 
 meet in front of the Church at 5:30 PM, at which point we will go to a 
 nearby venue for the event. \n \nFor the last six years, lesbian and gay 
 activists in Russia have faced beatings, government bans, intimidation and 
 arrests simply for trying to establish their right to demonstrate for equal 
 rights, let alone winning the rights themselves.  \nAll major religious 
 denominations and political parties in Russia have called for continued 
 government repression of Moscow Pride. Yet after more than five years of 
 "illegal" protests and legal battles in the Russian and international 
 courts, in late October Alekseev's GayRussia organization 
 (www.GayRussia.eu/en) alone among the myriad opposition groups in the 
 country won the first-ever victory in the European Court of Human Rights.   
 \n \nThe European Court unanimously ruled that Russia had violated Russian 
 LGBT's right to assemble and order the government to pay GayRussia the 
 equivalent of $40,000 US.  This was the first time that any opposition or 
 human rights group had defeated the Russian government over any issue in 
 the European Court. But despite the unanimous ruling against it, including 
 by the Russian judge, the government appealed the Court's ruling on the 
 last legally possible day.  A ruling on the Russian government's appeal of 
 the European Court decision is expected before the May 28 demonstration.  
 \n \nLegal or "illegal," Russian lesbians and gays have vowed to go forward 
 with their protest in a public place in the center of Moscow on Saturday, 
 May 28.\n \nAssuming, as is most likely, that the European court rejects 
 the Russian government's appeal, the Russian authorities will be confronted 
 with a choice which will reverberate far beyond LGBT issues: Either 
 jeopardize closer ties to Western Europe by ignoring the court ruling, or 
 obey the ruling and gain greater international legitimacy by being seen as 
 a nation improving its human rights record. The final answer will come on 
 May 28 when GayRussia has scheduled Moscow Pride 2011.\nIncluded in 
 Alekseev's presentation will be a short film showing government and mob 
 repressions of Moscow Gay Pride over the past few years and remarks by 
 Chicago-based gay activist Andy Thayer, who has participated in last two 
 years' Moscow Pride events and along with others was arrested in 2009.\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/03/06/18673972.php
SUMMARY:Russia's Foremost Gay Activist Speaking in San Francisco Monday Evening
LOCATION:Due to an 11th hour venue cancellation, we will meet in front of the 
 Metropolitan Community Church, 150 Eureka Street, San Francisco at 5:30 PM, 
 after which we will go to nearby location for the event.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/03/06/18673972.php
DTSTART:20110308T013000Z
DTEND:20110308T033000Z
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