by Rex Wockner
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A new poll has found that 61 percent of Russians agree with the Moscow city government's annual ban on the gay pride parade, down from 82 percent support for the ban a year ago.
The poll also found that 53 percent of Russians have heard about the efforts to stage the parade, up from 33 percent in a similar poll at the end of April.
The FOM poll, conducted nationwide June 4-5, found that 9 percent of Russians oppose the pride ban and 30 percent don't have an opinion on the matter.
"These results … show that over the last years, 30 of us managed to make our voices heard by 75 million in a country which is well-known for its lack of free media," said activist Nikolai Alekseev.
Undeterred by an April ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that banning Moscow Pride is illegal, the city blocked the May 28 gay parade for the sixth time this year.
Activists responded by trying to rally near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and City Hall. They were violently arrested.
The Euro Court declared that banning pride violates the European Convention on Human Rights in the areas of freedom of assembly and association, the right to an effective remedy and prohibition of discrimination.
