by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
Moscow Pride founder Nikolai Alekseev says members of his group will attempt to stage a picket in favor of same-sex marriage at the U.S. Embassy on July 7 during President Barack Obama's visit.
It is unlikely the activists will receive city permission to do so. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has banned pride parades for the past four years and sent riot police to aggressively arrest those who ignored the bans.
Luzhkov has called gay parades "demonic," "satanic" and "weapons of mass destruction." He also has said the bans are for gays' own good so that "radical Christians" don't have a chance to "kill them."
Alekseev is hopeful that he'll be able to pull off the picket regardless because "the presidential media pack will be in town."
