New Ban on Gay Rights Rally: Moscow

Later this month, Moscow city authorities again turned down demands for a gay rights rally in the Russian capital.

They also warned organisers that police would clamp down on any unauthorised demonstration.

Lithuanian Gays to Film TV Campaign to Promote Gay March Despite Widespread Opposition
Despite widespread opposition in the deeply Roman Catholic state, Lithuania’s gay community has started filming a TV campaign.

One of the organisers, Nikolai Alexeyev, said early Wednesday that he would fight a ban in court.

"We have prepared answers to all requests submitted by organisers and we will not accept them," Interfax news agency quoted city hall official Alexei Mayorov as saying.

Mayorov said the ban was motivated by principles of "morality ... and patriotism" that had to be taught to younger people.

For US Gays, Divorce is Just a Big Hurdle as Marriage is
Divorce is just the same difficult as gay marriages in the US.

A gay rights group had asked for authorisation of a May 25-26 demonstration and march in a Moscow park on Monday.

Human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a founding member of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, denounced the ban,which has been enforced for years, as homophobic.

Coming Out Reduces Stress Levels Among Gays
A team of Canadian researchers has found that declaring their sexual orientation reduces the stress levels of gays and lesbians.

"In our country homophobia is state-sponsored," Interfax news agency quoted her as saying.

Clashes between gay rights activists who try to circumvent a ban and religious groups are recurrent in Russia where homosexuality was a crime until 1993 and a mental condition until 1999, almost a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Some Gays Allowed to Adopt Thanks To Swiss Lawmakers Vote
Gays were allowed to adopt in very limited circumstances by the vote of the lower house of the Swiss parliament, passing the sensitive issue in this conservative country back to the Senate.

Saint Petersburg, Russia's former imperial capital, last year adopted legislation that punishes publicly "promoting" homosexuality and paedophilia, a link rejected by rights activists.

Source-AFP