Friday February 9, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 06 |
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Friday, Jul 04, 2008
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General Gayety by Leslie Robinson |
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| A valiant son of Russia | ||
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Yuri Luzhkov is a regular Russian hero. The Moscow mayor has placed himself between his city and the godless hordes from the west. As stalwart Russians before him turned back rampaging western villains like Napoleon and Hitler, now he stands unyielding against the latest threat: homos. Luzhkov and city officials barred a Pride parade in Moscow in 2006, and he just made it plain, while addressing a group that included the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, that in 2007 he intends to be repetitive. "Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the Gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as satanic," said Luzhkov. There's a strong leader. He denounces his foe as working for the devil, and so automatically positions himself as a VIP on the other side. "We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future," he proclaimed. This guy doesn't just man the barricades, he is the barricade. Luzhkov also said, according to The Associated Press, that Western countries are facing a religious crisis. "Some European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce sexual guides in schools. Such things are a deadly moral poison for children." Ooh, that's another clever touch: We must protect the children. Our man must've taken classes at the Institute of Fear, a popular finishing school for politicians the world over. Last year Moscow's authorities cited the potential for violence as the main reason for banning the parade, but also sniffed at the very notion of Gay rights. Gay activists from Russia and Europe chose to defy the ban, and on May 27 wound up having anything but a Gay old time. Religious and nationalist extremists attacked the activists. "This is a perverts' parade," an anti-Gay protester named Irina, holding an icon of the Madonna, told the AP. "This is filth, which is forbidden by God. We have to cleanse the world of this filth." Irina is another example of that strong fiber which allows locals to get through Moscow winters on a bottle of vodka and a cabbage. Riot police detained both Gay activists and anti-Gay protesters. Activists accused the police of allowing the mayhem to happen, a point on which Volker Beck would agree. The openly Gay Beck, a member of Germany's parliament, was speaking to TV reporters when some 20 nationalist youths surrounded and beat him. Over 27 million Soviets died in the war against German fascism. Now in the next century we see Russian fascists attacking a democratically elected German politician. I don't know whether to call this irony, progress, or just confusing. Mayor Luzhkov received a lot of international heat, especially from fellow European mayors, after this violent suppression of Pride. But the man who said on the eve of the Gay attempt to rally, "As long as I am mayor, we will not permit these parades," is no mushy dumpling. We may soon find out how far he'll go to stop the perverts. Moscow Pride organizers are taking the city's government to the European Court of Human Rights over the ban. If the court rules for the Gays, perhaps Luzhkov will copy old Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's moves and bang his shoe on a desk or holler, "We will bury you!" He'll need to distinguish, of course, whether he's threatening the members of the court in France, or the homos at home. The Pride organizers have also announced that they've set May 27, again, as the date for their second shot at a parade, that being the 14th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia. The activists are determined; Mayor Luzhkov is determined. Let's hope that, come spring, this Cold War has thawed. Leslie Robinson is partial to vodka. E-mail her at LesRobinsn@aol.com, and read other columns at www.GeneralGayety.com. |
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