Obama to face gay parade during July visit to Moscow
Russia`s sexual minorities plan to gather in Moscow in favor of same-sex unions during U.S. President Barack Obama`s visit on July 7, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported on Tuesday.
The parade organizer Nikolai Alekseev said participants of the unauthorized event are expected to demand that Russian authorities make same-sex civil unions in the country legal.
Alekseev wrote in his livejournal: "Since Obama`s arrival at the White House the issue of sexual minorities has reached significant progress." In the U.S. there are currently six states where gay marriage is allowed.
Meanwhile, he criticized the U.S. administration for signing the UN Statement on "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" in March saying that the document is aimed at "discriminating against homosexual relations across the whole world."
While announcing such moves as making June "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month" and supporting gay rights, America`s first black president said he believes that "tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."
Moscow authorities have branded gay parades "Satanic" and said they will never be permitted in the capital, while the Russian Orthodox Church and various far-right groups have vowed to halt any attempt to hold a march in support of gay rights in Russia.
At the most recent such event on May 16, police detained about 40 people and warned that they would stop any attempts by organizers to hold an unauthorized gay parade.
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