by Rex Wockner
International News
After being banned for three years running, Moscow activists will try a fourth time to stage a gay pride parade next May 16.
But with a twist: They will do so on the same day that the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Moscow.
The campy contest, which is staged in the country of the previous year's winner, is hugely popular among European gays, who travel from far and wide to attend it.
"We hope that the many gays and lesbians who usually attend Eurovision finals from different countries will join our Pride," said organizer Nikolai Alekseev.
He said an international gay-rights conference also is being planned.
Alekseev suggested it would be impossible for virulently anti-gay Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to again ban the parade amid the glare of the Eurovision spotlight.
Luzhkov has said gay pride parades "can be described in no other way than as satanic."
