05/31/2006
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhov Supports Violence Against Gays
Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov commented yesterday on his handling of the gay rights march that erupted in violence over the weekend, defending the neo-Nazi nationalists who hurled eggs, stones, and water at the gays and lesbians attempting to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, calling the activists' actions a "desecration of a sacred place."
Luzhov: "Our way of life, our morals and our tradition — our morals are cleaner in all ways. The West has something to learn from us and should not race along in this mad licentiousness. We may have a democratic country, but we live in an organized country and an organized city. These gays wanted to lay flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior. This is a provocation. These gays go there, and openly go up to the monument. It is a contamination. People burst through and of course they beat them up."
Moscow Defends Banning Gay Pride Parade [msnbc]
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:35 AM EST by Andy in Activism, Moscow, Russia | Permalink
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Just terrible.
Posted by: Rob (lrdarystar) | May 31, 2006 9:40:02 AM
I have studied Russian culture for 12 years now and can only say that I am embarrassed that the mayor of a major city like Moscow could make comments like this.
I feel so sorry for my gay friends over there.
Posted by: jmg | May 31, 2006 9:53:51 AM
Good God that guy is pig-ugly...and doing his best Donald Trump lip impression. Looking at photos of the protestors that showed up to berate the activists leads me to suspect that mostly what they were upset about was that the gays got all the good looks.
Posted by: Michael W. | May 31, 2006 9:54:28 AM
If Bush thought he could get away with this he'd be doing the same thing.
Posted by: Wayne | May 31, 2006 10:06:39 AM
Could be the U.S. if the theocrats are able to take over. There are millions of folks in this country who would agree to killing us. Just remember, in the last election in Ohio there was a DEMOCRAT state candidate who garnered 25% of the vote. His platform included the death penalty for gays. While hatred of gays is open in Russia, it merely bubbles shallowly under the surface in the U.S.
Posted by: Bill | May 31, 2006 10:10:30 AM
There's one Stalin missed.
Posted by: Brett | May 31, 2006 10:20:58 AM
Well, mark Moscow off my list of places to visit! How could a country that has the best ballet companies in the world have such homophobia?
Posted by: Scott J | May 31, 2006 10:49:32 AM
The Russians sure have a long road ahead of them. What a thuggish, porcine, thoroughly vomitous man they have as their mayor. I have to hand it to him, though... he's at least honest about his bigotry, unlike the folks who run our country.
Posted by: Brian | May 31, 2006 11:27:02 AM
Well Scott, your list must indeed by shrinking: the Jamaica, St. Maarten's, Bermuda, (hell the Carribbean in general) Russia, Cameroon, most states in the US..
Might be more efficient to make a list of places that don't condone killing fags. Um, Holland & Scandinavia & some western European countries I guess.
Here's a money-making idea - some rich homosexual should can buy and island that explicitly welcomes gays & lesbians and works vs. violence against them. We can all vacation in the same place and keep our tourist dollars in the community.
Posted by: CF | May 31, 2006 11:38:32 AM
Can we call in the Gay Mafia for a hit?
I'm seriously tired of these fucktards getting this attention.
Posted by: Tread | May 31, 2006 12:03:44 PM
"Good God that guy is pig-ugly." If only he were hot like John Rocker, then we could all look the other way.
"Might be more efficient to make a list of places that don't condone killing fags. Um, Holland & Scandinavia & some western European countries I guess." Just give 'em time: Sharia law will be in place there soon enough.
Posted by: Steve | May 31, 2006 2:26:58 PM
The democratization of Russia is far from complete. The old USSR may have fallen, but the leadership of the former Soviet republics didn't change much. Putin, who is now president of Russia, was formerly the head of the KGB! Just how "democratic" could such a man (or the system he governs) be?
The biggest failure of the Soviet experience was its inability to crush and kill forever the Russian Orthodox Church. Aside from the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian church is one of the most evil and corrupt organizations ever in world history. While much was done to weaken the Church, the Soviets allowed it to continue to exist. That was a huge mistake and in fact will be an obstacle to the democratization of that nation. Witness the support that Russian churchmen have given to the skinheads and neo-nazis who attacked the small group of gay and lesbian demonstrators this weekend. The Russian Orthodox Church is an anti-democratic and destabilizing influence on Russia's emerging democracy.
Posted by: Jonathon | May 31, 2006 3:31:05 PM
John Rocker's pig-ugly too...
Posted by: Michael W. | May 31, 2006 5:01:23 PM
Mayor's last name is correctly spelled as Luzhkov. Undoubtedly, Russia is a typical homophobic country. Ironically, the Moscow's primary location for male hookers to walk their rounds (the so called 'plyeshka') is just about 100m far from the Red square and about 70m far from Lubyanka and its notorious KGB. That boulevard-like place occupies the Staraya square, the President's Administration's front entrance being right across the street.
Posted by: a young inhabinant of moscow | May 31, 2006 7:24:47 PM
We faced the same level of hatred and opposition when we started here but won through to our present strength by concentrating on an ongoing campaign of militant actions, some of which, like the marches on Washington, drew hundreds of thousands even in the depths of the plague years.
Once Stalin terminated the Red Revolution in 1927 and replaced the Bolsheviks with his henchmen and gangsters, Russian began a drift to the right that formally ended in the demise of the USSR in 1991 even though it'd been politically bankrupt for 50 plus years.
Our Russian brothers and sisters face challenges that are different but just as formidable as the ones we face. Send your support to gayrussia.ru/en and a letter of condemnation to rusemb@uriel.net.
Posted by: Bill Perdue, RainbowRED Organization | Jun 1, 2006 9:27:43 AM
From Bay Windows:
The Boston Pride Committee is asking for donations for this fund as a contribution to assisting Pride organizers, like Nikolai Alexeyev in Moscow, to the development of their Pride. We must never forget what we went through during Stonewall, and why we celebrate our community’s voice. We must also never forget the real and existing violence LGBT Prides face in attempting to celebrate. One hundred percent of donations will go directly to the fund. Please visit BostonPride.org or e-mail clerk@BostonPride.org
to donate.
Posted by: Bill Perdue, RainbowRED Organization | Jun 1, 2006 10:19:02 AM