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Russia Must Stop Anti-Gay Violence and Permit Gay Pride Parade
HRW via BBSNews – New York, May 8, 2006 -? Moscow authorities must investigate two incidents where protestors threatened and attacked people entering and leaving gay-friendly bars, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
These assaults on freedoms of association and assembly underscore the need for Mayor Luzhkov to end a threatened ban on Russia’s first planned gay pride parade, scheduled for May 27.
“As Moscow’s gays and lesbians prepare for their first gay pride parade, Mayor Luzhkov faces a choice,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “He can stand up to protect human rights, or endorse the views of extremists responsible for anti-gay violence.”