by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
The city government in St. Petersburg, Russia, denied a permit for the first gay pride march, scheduled for June 26, citing construction work on the route, http://www.GayRussia.ru reported.
Officials told organizers to suggest a different route.
Pride spokeswoman Maria Efremenkova said the city has a legal responsibility to propose another route when a permit is denied, but, "We are ready to negotiate with the authorities to ensure our action can take place legally and … we immediately submitted three new routes to City Hall."
Should those routes also be rejected, pride organizers will sue and take the case as far as the European Court of Human Rights, Efremenkova said. She also vowed that the march will happen with or without city permission.
"Right to freedom of assembly is guaranteed in Russia by Article 31 of the constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, which are two international treaties ratified by our country," Efremenkova said.
In Moscow, Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has banned gay pride for five years in a row, calling gay parades "satanic." Small groups of activists have defied the bans and have been attacked and beaten by police and anti-gay protesters.
