Andrew Sullivan writes about the cancellation of the Moscow gay pride parade. In his article – entitled “How Muslim Blackmail Works” – he heavily implies that it was cancelled in large part because of Muslim protests.
While I agree with the key point Andrew making about not self-censoring, I was a little disappointed that the way his post written heavily implied that the parade was cancelled because of Muslim outrage. The exact words he used were
“It was canceled after the chief Muslim leader in Russia warned that marchers would be “bashed” if they dared to walk the streets.”).
Lets be clear about this – parades in Moscow are not cancelled because of pressure from the Muslim community.
While the Muslim community was, in this case, in step with the general consensus in Russia, their opinion had had zero impact on the decision to cancel the parade. The gay pride parade in Moscow was never going to get approval from the city government, because of general homophobia in Russia, and the hostility of the Russian orthodox church to homsexuality.
Even last year, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov said that he would never approve the parade:
“If I receive such a letter, I will refuse,” Luzhkov told the Interfax news agency late Friday, explaining that he “guards the Muscovites’ interests, and the capital’s inhabitants would be categorically set against such an initiative.”
Extreme hostility towards gays in the former Soviet Union isn’t uncommon, and there were even problems holding a gay pride parade in Riga, Latvia last summer. Then, even the Latvian Prime Minister felt it appropriate to weigh in:
“For sexual minorities to parade in the very heart of Riga, next to the Doma church, is unacceptable,” he told LNT television on Wednesday.
And this was in the European Union!
Having said that, though, from my own private observations whilst living in Russia (a couple of years ago now), acceptance of homosexuality does seem to be increasing. In the Siberian city of Irkutsk, for example, a major local nightclub used to hold well attended fortnightly gay nights. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught out on the streets kissing your boyfriend though.
