High-profile LGBT event staged in Latvian capital

21/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

PUBLISHED: 14:13, 20 June 2015 | UPDATED: 14:13, 20 June 2015

5,000 people have participated in a high-profile gay pride event in the capital of Latvia, a former Soviet country. (Oksana Dzadan, AP / AP)

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Up to 5,000 people have participated in a high-profile gay pride event in the capital of Latvia, a former Soviet country.
Participants in colorful outfits waved rainbow flags and standards from Spain, Britain, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia, among others, as they marched and danced to loud music.
The event is aimed at raising awareness of homosexual, bisexual and transgender rights in eastern Europe, where there is marked intolerance of LGBT groups. A 2013 Russian law bans promotion of same-sex gay values to minors.
Organizer Alexander Ivanajevs said the event shows LGBT people “are similar people to everybody else.”
Police say three people with a counter-demonstration were arrested in connection with the event.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3132574/High-profile-LGBT-event-staged-Latvian-capital.html#ixzz3dgWejHUT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Bomb squad evacuates LGBT charity over suspicious package

19/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Editorial: Yesterday we had a bomb left under a police family car in Northern Ireland, and in Southern Ireland a suspicious package was left at a LGBT charity – it would seem that in today’s society any group or individual which doesn’t follow a particular party or group line is a valid target – WE DO NOT BELIEF THAT THIS IS RIGHT. WE ASK THAT YOU MAKE YOUR FEELING FELT ON THIS MATTER. WRITE YOUR COMMENTS HERE,

CALL NIGRA NOW!

TWEET ABOUT IT, WRITE TO YOUR NEWSPAPER(S). LIFE IS PRECIOUS.

Bomb disposal experts have evacuated the office of an LGBT charity – after they were sent a suspicious package.

Staff at Irish LGBT charity GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network) alerted police after they received a package this morning.
It is believed that staff opened a package to find a blue powder, with a note that read ‘goodbye’.

Emergency services treated the incident as a potential threat, and dispatched a number of specialist teams to the building on Upper Exchange Street, Dublin.

The charity tweeted pictures throughout the response. Six fire engines and a bomb disposal team are currently on site.
Tiernan Brady of GLEN told TheJournal.ie: “The intent was to terrorise – no matter what was in the envelope.
“We’ve never had this before and the goal was to scare us and inflict terror.”

Staff that were inside the building, but they reassured: “We are all safe. Leaving the professionals to it!”
GLEN is one of Ireland’s largest gay rights groups, and was instrumental in calling for a ‘Yes’ vote in last month’s same-sex marriage referendum.
UPDATE 14:00: Staff are currently being evacuated from the building.
UPDATE 14:14: Bomb experts are currently testing the substance.
UPDATE 14:55: The all-clear has been given, after experts declared the substance non-toxic.

Northern Ireland: 20,000 March In Favour Of Gay Marriage

15/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Campaigners attend a rally in Belfast to show their support for marriage equality

Belfast demo seeks equality for LGBT people

by Mike Hamilton
in Belfast
ABOUT 20,000 gay rights supporters marched through Belfast city centre on Saturday to demand that the legal recognition of same-sex marriage be extended to Northern Ireland.
The protest wound its way through the main shopping district to Belfast City Hall, where a large open-air rally took place.
The action was jointly organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Amnesty International and the Rainbow Project.
Participants included a wide range of individuals and movements, including LGBT groups, trade unions, charities, human and civil rights organisations, churches, political parties and pressure groups.
The huge turnout surprised even the organisers, who were forced to make repeated calls for participants to use all available space at both sides of the staging to allow thousands more people in to hear from a variety of invited guests.
Among the speakers was ICTU LGBT committee chairman Daire Toner, who said: “I dream one day of getting married, but my dreams are shattered by the laws that govern this state.
“Even if I got married elsewhere, a flight or a train journey would make it invalid.”
Rainbow Project director John O’Doherty added: “The numbers here say it all. We want our voice heard. We need to go out and tell our story, play our part in a new Northern Ireland. They can’t ignore us any more.”
Amnesty International Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan put it simply: “All people are equal — the state should protect all people equally.”
In 2005, while under direct rule by Westminster, Northern Ireland became the first part of the UK to introduce civil partnerships, but since the power-sharing institutions were restored at Stormont, the fight for equality has gone into reverse gear.
The most obvious manifestation of this was an attempt to introduce a “conscience clause” amendment to equality law which would have allowed firms owned by people of faith to discriminate against LGBT customers.
Members of the Northern Irish Assembly proposed motions supporting equality in civil marriage four times in the last parliament.
But, each time, the Democratic Unionist Party blocked it, using a device known as a “petition of concern,” which requires majorities on both the nationalist and unionist benches.
Further links:

Newsletter – Thousands attend gay marriage march
Belfast Telegraph – Thousand attend gay marriage march

Northern Ireland Political Leaders Missing In Action

15/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Belfast Book Festival THOMAS HITZLSPERGER The Belfast Book Festival has just finished another brilliantly successful week of over 100 events. For myself the highlight was meeting Thomas Hitzlsperger a former footballer who has played for Aston Villa, Stuttgart (where he won the Bundesliga title), Lazio and West Ham United; who following his retirement became the most high-profile footballer to come out, and in an interview to Die Zeit, he stated he wanted “to further the debate about homosexuality among sports professionals”. His interview with Denise Watson was funny, enlightening and for someone who says he was late in coming to reading books, he came across as a very articulate and educated man, who is interested in being a wonderful role model to LGBT youth and others.

My second highlight was the presentation given by Stephen Connolly on Forrest Reid (born 24 June 1875, Belfast, Ireland; d. 4 January 1947, Warrenpoint, County Down, Northern Ireland) – a forgotten author from our shores. A man who as known by a wide and high circle of friends and colleagues during his time, but whose books are difficult to find, yet when you do read one you want to read the others. They books are full of wit and humour, brilliant descriptive pieces in relation to Belfast during his time.
…Though his books are not necessarily well known today, he has been labelled ‘the first Ulster novelist of European stature’, and comparisons have been drawn between his owncoming of age novel of Protestant Belfast, Following Darkness (1912), and James Joyce‘s seminal novel of growing up in Catholic Dublin, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man(1924). Reid’s fiction, which often uses submerged narratives to explore male beauty and love, can be placed within the historical context of the emergence of a more explicit expression of homosexuality in English literature in the 20th century...
Some of his books are being reprinted by Valancourt Books and can be purchased here:

EDITORIAL: Whilst I loved the Book Festival, what was disappointing was the level of support from our political leaders, namely our Ministers, MLAs, and Councillors, who all appear to have been missing in action. This is a world renown event, has world renown artists in attendance but a source has indicated to me that to their knowledge not one of them has made an appearance; this means that our Westminster MPs (18 as at 2010), our Stormont MLAs (108) and our Belfast Councillors (60 as at 2014) were all to busy to support what is a prime event both for Belfast and Northern Ireland, but also in the eyes of tourists and internationally.

Books Are Important, Awesome, they provide access to the world to our children, to those who are ill or infirm, and a method of escapism – so why do our leaders fail to understand this and support this event?

Gay Cake Affair 'Crumbles' on

12/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Anti-Gay Marriage Cake Baker Outlines Appeal Grounds

By The Gay UK, Jun 11 2015 07:25AM

The Christian-run bakery which refused to bake a pro-marriage cake has outlined its appeal to the judgement that found it had acted unlawfully in refusing the cake order.

CREDIT: Steve Schoeder (flickr)

The bakery, in Northern Ireland, was found to have acted unlawfully when it refused to make a cake that beared a pro gay marriage slogan for Gareth Lee, by a court last month. It was ordered to pay £500 in compensation to Mr. Lee.
In a statement released by the Christian Institute, an organisation that has funded many appeals against legal matters surrounding gay issues, has raised three questions to support their appeal.
Whether the judge was correct, as a matter of law, to hold that Ashers had discriminated against Mr Lee directly on grounds of sexual orientation.
Whether the judge was correct, as a matter of law, to hold that Ashers had discriminated against Mr Lee directly on grounds of religious belief or political opinion.
Whether the judge was correct, as a matter of law, to hold that Ashers was not entitled to protection as a result of the rights under Articles 9 and/or 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
A spokesperson for the Christian Institute, Simon Calvert, believes that “most people” would support an overturning of the ruling that found that the business had acted unlawfully, this despite a poll undertaken in 2014 which showed that the majority supported same-sex marriage.
The Christian Institute is a registered charity that has sought to retain section 28, to raise the age of consent for gay people and opposed the Civil Partnership Act and same-sex marriage act.
The Christian Institute has backed many legal actions in the past, but has been unsuccessful in many attempts, most notably the Christian Institute backed Hotel owners Mr and Mrs Ball, who infamously denied lodgings to a gay couple. Numerous attempts of appeal have all subsequently failed.

BELFAST CITY COUNCIL EQUAL MARRIAGE MOTION

09/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

1 June 2015
Cllr Jeffrey Dudgeon (UUP Balmoral)
I share the sheer joy of friends and comrades in the south at the referendum result.
Ireland, as someone has said, CAME OUT, and became a Republic of Freedom, perhaps for the first time.
Self-confident, modern, generous and tolerant.
Nothing illustrates that more than those hundreds who flew back into Dublin to vote.
It was not ever thus.
When they decriminalised in 1993, it was eleven years since I and a small band achieved the same in Northern Ireland. We had then a handful of non-gay supporters – Mary Holland the journalist, the poet John Hewitt and his wife, and another journalist still with us, Fionnuala O’Connor.
It took the south another decade, David Norris following in my footsteps at the European Court of Human Rights.
Contrary social forces there were strong. Not so now.
Although four out of ten did find reasons to vote NO, the campaign was civilised and largely polite.
So why the change? What happened?
Gay people came out, and the world realised we were not what they were led to expect. That then became a geometric process. Everybody had a gay person in their family or one amongst their friends.
When we decriminalised in 1982, there was a small party in Belfast of a dozen people and later a celebratory disco, not a huge street party with global support.
There was still to be a series of uphill battles in Northern Ireland, to bring about an equal age of consent, a fair and non-discriminatory sexual offences law, and civil partnerships. All were achieved by and through Westminster, with the signal help of Kate Hoey MP in the age case.
Being realistic, most countries in Europe still do not have equal marriage laws.
And the fact remains that in communist and post-communist countries, in the Islamic world and in much of Africa there is prosecution, persecution and worse. A ray of hope – Mozambique has just decriminalised. London a recent opinion poll told us, worryingly, is twice as homophobic as anywhere else in Britain.
Now in Northern Ireland we are being asked to follow suit immediately in the matter of marriage.
I don’t want to be churlish, but decriminalisation in the 1980s was achieved without support from any political party in Northern Ireland.
When the going was tough, the tough were found wanting.
Even today the Alliance Party has an equal marriage policy but it does not discipline MLAs who defy the whip.
Sinn Fein who were not supportive of law reform when it was unpopular, still can’t celebrate or even recognise their most famous gay hero and martyr, Roger Casement.
I am living history and can only take the long view.
I also campaigned for civil partnership when that was the limit of what progressives in the Labour Party and LibDems were offering. I did not say then marriage was next.
We don’t want or need a referendum here. That is a silly notion. The Bill would still have to get through the Assembly where it would be vetoed.
I don’t think the proposers of this motion are showboating or trying to test those who have concerns about a change in the marriage law, but I am nervous of opponents getting demonised for opposing something that was common currency a few short years ago.
I have respect for those I know who cannot support this motion, either because of theological beliefs, or simply traditional views, but not for those in the DUP who would reverse the reforms achieved, even decriminalisation itself. I have said we need to be careful that the balance between the European Convention articles on freedom of conscience and the right to a private life do not get out of kilter. Equality law should not trump human rights.
In my own party there are differing views. We tend to hold to the status quo, and that I understand, but some have already voted for change and it cannot be said they have paid a political penalty – unlike Montgomery Hyde MP, the most prominent exponent in the House of Commons in the 1950s for enacting the Wolfenden report reforms. He lost the Ulster Unionist nomination for his North Belfast seat in 1959 for his courage.
To conclude, I got selected in South Belfast by the UUP for this august body, and elected in 2014, as an openly gay man, and have been treated with respect and courtesy by all the other members. This has warmed my heart like little else.
As to the matter in hand, I am not of the view that the legislative change sought will be achieved through Stormont, certainly for a number of years. This motion is not going to change many minds there. I rather expect my learned friends in the High Court and in Strasbourg will again be the vehicle of change.
jeffreydudgeon@hotmail.com
Motion re: Civil Marriage Provisions for Same Sex Couples – Cllr. Emmet McDonough-Brown (Alliance) to move (Seconded by Cllr. Jim McVeigh, Sinn Fein leader):“This Council believes that all couples in Belfast and across Northern Ireland, regardless of sexual orientation, should have the right to a civil marriage; that the rights of religious institutions to define, observe and practise marriage within their beliefs should be given legal protection; that faith groups which wish to marry same sex couples should not be prevented by the state from doing so; that all married couples of the same sex should have the same legal entitlement to the protections, responsibilities, rights, obligations and benefits afforded by the legal institution of marriage; and calls on the Minister of Finance and Personnel to introduce legislation to extend civil marriage provisions to same sex couples.” Passed by 38 to 13 with two abstentions.

Get ready for Pride Edinburgh

08/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Get ready for Pride Edinburgh

Hi Everyone

Saturday 20th June is Pride Edinburgh! – Can you volunteer to help Equality Network?
The Equality Network will be out in force at Pride Edinburgh in Edinburgh on Saturday 20th June and we are looking for volunteers to help promote our campaigns and wider work for LGBTI equality to the thousands of people who will attend.
This year we are marching for trans and intersex rights in the parade from the Scottish Parliament, up the Royal Mile, to Bristo Square. Once there we need volunteers to help by distributing information and shaking buckets.
If you can spare some time on Saturday 20th June or in the days before pride and want to support LGBTI equality please let us know by filling out the online volunteer form.
If you’re not able to volunteer but are attending Pride make sure you pop by the Equality Network stall and say hi!

Yours for equality,

Scott Cuthbertson
Development Coordinator
Equality Network

Nominations are open for the first Scottish LGBTI Awards! Nominate across twelve categories at www.equality-network.org/nominate.

What are your priorities for LGBTI equality? Over 400 people have already responded to our consultation on the next priorities for LGBTI equality in Scotland. Let us know your views today: www.equality-network.org/sp16

Equality Network

30 Bernard Street

Edinburgh,ScotlandEH6 6PR

United Kingdom

Marriage Equality Round-Up – June 4th

05/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Here’s ‘gayapolis’ daily round-up of the marriage equality / LGBT rights stories that don’t warrant a full posting on the blog, or that we didn’t have time to add. We’re able to get more news and analysis to you this way every day – enjoy!
POP CULTURE: A petition has been started asking the Olympic Committee to remove Caitlyn Jenner’s medals. full story
POP CULTURE: Jennifer Hudson has released a new song and video celebrating marriage equality. full story
POP CULTURE: E! released a preview of Jenner’s upcoming reality show–I Am Cait. full story
POP CULTURE: AT&T wants everyone living openly to share their stories by creating their own 15-second “This is Me” video to tell the world how they live proud every day. full story

POP CULTURE: Skyy Vodka launched #ToastToMarriage and a new line of shirts to celebrate marriage equality. full story

POP CULTURE: On its Facebook page, American Airlines posted this Pride Month logo and wrote, “Proud to support the LGBT community and its allies.” full story

POP CULTURE: The radio host weighed-in on Caitlyn Jenner’s transition, arguing Republicans should reject Caitlyn Jenner, even if she agrees with them politically.full story
POP CULTURE: The Duggar parents appeared on Fox News to insist that their molester son was much better than those transgender pedophiles who want to enter public bathrooms. full story
INTERNATIONAL: Gay Star News has an overview of the state of LGBTI rights around the world. full story
INTERNATIONAL: U.S. officials on Tuesday insisted a U.S.-led pan-Pacific trade agreement has sufficient safeguards to ensure the rights of LGBT people and other marginalized groups in the countries that ratify it are protected. full story
ARGENTINA: Both of the Argentinean appeals court judges involved in the decision to reduce the sentence of a convicted child abuser because they claimed that his six-year-old victim was gay have now both resigned. full story
AUSTRALIA: A Catholic Bishop in South Australia has compared children of gay couples to children forcibly removed from Aboriginal families. full story
GERMANY: A German minister could be facing prosecution over her comments comparing gay marriage to incest and polygamy. full story
INDIA: The Delhi government has vowed to investigate a gay ‘cure’ racket in the city after a newspaper expose of the unethical practice triggered an avalanche of public outrage. full story
SOUTH KOREA: The Pride event in South Korea’s capital has been banned by police, but organisers have vowed to march regardless. full story =
UGANDA: NOM Chairman John Eastman hopes that Uganda reinstates the life sentence for homosexuality “in short order”. full story
UKRAINE: A campaign of billboards in Ukraine hopes to change the way people address LGBT issues, calling for people to “speak properly” and use the equivalent of “gay” instead of “faggot”. full story
UK: A group at Sheffield Hallam University are researching trans people’s access to toilets. full story
UK: Reverend Chris Newlands has called for the Church of England to catch up on trans issues. full story
UK, NORTHERN IRELAND: A city councillor in Belfast has said she tried to kill herself rather than come out as gay, because when her father did it “broke [her] mum’s heart.” full story
UK, NORTHERN IRELAND: Veteran actor Patrick Stewart has come out in favor of Ashers Bakery which was last month found guilty of discrimination for refusing to write “support gay marriage” on a cake. full story
USA: Media Matters for America cleverly debunks the right-wing claim that trans-inclusive school policies endanger students. full story
USA: The Department of Defense is celebrating gay pride month with a rainbow makeover. full story

USA: As the Supreme Court prepares to issue a ruling on same-sex marriage, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is calling on Congress to protect the freedoms of religious institutions. full story
USA: Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a series of LGBT rights shirts. full story

USA, ALABAMA: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has suggested that some people in the marriage equality movement hope its legalization will destroy the United States
full story
USA, ALABAMA: Legislation that would take the state of Alabama out of the business of issuing marriage licenses died in the House of Representatives committee. full story
USA, CALIFORNIA: Bisexual Sonoma teen takes his own life after years of bullying. full story
USA, CALIFORNIA: The Intolerant Jackass Act filed by activist Charlotte Laws in late March got the go ahead to start collecting signatures. full story
USA, COLORADO: The school that barred a gay valedictorian from coming out during his commencement speech says it will investigate what happened but is defending itself against accusations of discrimination from U.S. Rep. Jared Polis. full story
USA, FLORIDA: Leesburg and Greenacres have passed LGBT civil rights ordinances for their communities expanding the number of towns with laws protecting sexual orientation to eleven. full story
USA, INDIANA: Governor Mike Pence issued a welcome to pride letter for Indianapolis that doesn’t mention gay people, or pride. full story
USA, IOWA: In a surprise move, a local Chick-fil-A franchise is catering an Iowa gay pride picnic. full story
USA, KANSAS: The Hobbit’s Gandalf the White and Harry Potter’s Professor Albus Dumbledore are getting married opposite The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) next weekend in Topeka. full story
USA, MISSISSIPPI: The executive director of a Mississippi LGBT advocacy group has resigned after making a series of anti-trans comments on his social media pages. full story
USA, NEW JERSEY: A jury in northern New Jersey is scheduled to hear opening arguments in the fraud trial of a nonprofit that offers so-called “gay conversion” therapy. full story
USA, NORTH CAROLINA: Rachel Maddow looks at how the anti marriage equality bill could open the door to discrimination for other reasons. full story
USA, NORTH CAROLINA: The vote to try to override the Governor’s veto of the anti marriage equality bill has been delayed in the House, which ends its current session Friday. full story
USA, OKLAHOMA: The state’s Department of Corrections has halted all prison weddings — apparently to avoid having inmates enter same-sex marriages. full story
USA, TEXAS: Anti gay groups are calling on Governor Abbott to bring the legislature back for a special session to pass an anti marriage equality bill. full story
USA, TEXAS: Plans are underway in smaller cities around Texas for the Supreme Court’s Day of Decision of marriage equality. full story
USA, TEXAS: The state government is stalling plans to update marriage forms until the US Supreme Court rules, which could delay the start of same sex weddings in the state. full story
USA, TEXAS: Lambda Legal is warning government officials who defy the Supreme Court on marriage equality – they could be sued personally and might face punitive damages. full story
USA, UTAH: God bought two billboards in the state to proclaim his love for gays.full story

Trade Unions and LGBT Pride: We're not going away

05/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

Thursday 4th JUne 2015

Despite tensions over sponsors, we urge you to march with Pride, writes PETER PURTON

THIRTY years ago, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) banners led the LGBT Pride parade in London. On June 27, NUM banners, a band from the Welsh valleys and the reconstituted Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) will lead the trade union section on Pride in London.
The TUC wants this to be the best and biggest trade union contribution ever to Pride. The reasons are simple: trade unions were champions of equality before, and their support continues to be vital today.
When LGSM was established to generate solidarity between two communities facing oppression, none of the rights now enjoyed by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people existed, and under the ruthless government of Margaret Thatcher it was hard to see any light at the end of this particular tunnel.
But the solidarity forged between a few LGBT activists and the year-long miners’ strike in 1985 was repaid by the votes and voices of the NUM at Labour and TUC conferences that year and opened the door to winning the victories for equality that would follow after Labour took office in 1997.
Trade unions were representing their LGBT members long before they had any legal rights against discrimination and trade unions were instrumental in pushing the first Blair government to introduce the first ever protection at work.
Trade unions were also instrumental in pushing the second Blair government to extend that protection to the area of goods and services. As recent legal cases have shown, that is an area of law vital to our equal place in society.
At a time when much of the movement against the infamous section 28 that killed off attempts to promote equality in schools had given up the protests and started to turn our annual Pride events into a party, the trade unions continued to fight the prejudices that remain widespread to this day.
At a time when the big corporations whose record on equality is shameful are now recognising the business benefits of celebrating diversity, the trade unions are still campaigning for the removal of the remaining legal discrimination faced by members of the community, such as the inequality in survivor pensions for same-sex couples or the “spousal veto” ruining the lives of many trans people who need to gain recognition in their new gender.
Two years ago, the largest ever scientific survey of workplace attitudes (carried out by the Manchester Business School) confirmed that ignorance, stereotyping and prejudice are rampant across workplaces in every sector of the British economy. The most alarming evidence was how many people could not see that their bullying behaviour was homophobic.
That it is still vital to challenge homophobia and transphobia in schools and that the national sport continues to be a “safe place” for the voicing of bigoted opinions shows how far there is to go before genuine social acceptance is achieved. Trade unions are essential to winning these battles.
The board of Pride in London, in its wisdom, has dropped the original proposal that LGSM should lead the parade with the trade unions behind.
Now the unions will be in Section C of the parade, and in solidarity, LGSM will join us there. No matter: what is important is the message of solidarity that LGSM encapsulates in its very existence, and the messages that will sound out loud and clear from the trade union section.
More than ever, we need trade unions to protect the interests of workers and of all sections of society that will be attacked by this government.
Governments change, the organisers of Pride London change (more frequently than governments do), but the trade unions have been, are, and will always be here to champion workers’ rights and equality for all.
That’s why the TUC calls on trade unionists to bring their banners and themselves to Baker Street on Saturday June 27 to join the trade union section of the Pride parade, and to use the occasion to explain our message of solidarity to LGBT people and their supporters on the parade, on the streets of London and finally in Trafalgar Square.

Peter Purton is the TUC’s LGBT policy officer.

Three gay activists jailed after Moscow rally

02/06/2015 By Dave McFarlane Leave a Comment

By AFP | AFP

Gay and LGBT rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev (R) holds a flare as he rides a quad-bike during an unauthorized gay rights activists rally in central Moscow on May 30, 2015. Moscow city authorities turned down demands for a gay rights rally. (Dmitry Serebryakov/AFP/Getty Images)

The organiser of an unauthorised gay pride rally in Moscow was jailed for 10 days on Monday along with two other activists for disobeying police.

The event’s main organiser, Nikolai Alexeyev, was jailed after being detained by police at Saturday’s brief protest outside the Moscow mayor’s office.
“The court hearing was a farce!” he wrote on Twitter.
Two other activists, Yevgeny Gerasimov and Vadim Gruzdev were also sentenced to 10 days in police cells, reported OVD-Info website, which monitors detentions of activists.
On Saturday Alexeyev rode past the mayor’s office on the main Tverskaya Street on a quad bike decked with a rainbow flag and waving an orange smoke flare. The mayor’s office had refused permission for a rally and a court rejected activists’ appeal.
Police detained around a dozen people at the rally after some 30 nationalist counter-demonstrators in camouflage clothing and football fans hurled eggs at the activists and attacked them.
Gays in Russia face regular harassment and requests to hold pride parades have been consistently rejected by authorities in the capital.
In 2013, President Vladimir Putin approved legislation banning the dissemination of “gay propaganda” among minors.
The law has been widely condemned in the West as stoking intolerance.
Human Rights Watch last December sounded the alarm over a rising number of homophobic attacks in Russia, saying that the ban on “gay propaganda” effectively legalised discrimination.

Police officers detain gay rights activists as they gathered near the State Duma, Russia’s lower parliament chamber, in Moscow, Russia, on June 11, 2013. AP PHOTO/IVAN SEKRETAREV

Russia decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, and only stopped classifying it as a mental illness in 1999.