Mayor calls gays ‘satanic’

Moscow

Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow’s longtime mayor, refused this week to allow gay rights activists to stage a parade in the Russian capital. “Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described as satanic,” Luzhkov said. “We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future.” About 200 gay activists tried to march last year in defiance of a ban, only to be attacked by skinheads and militant Orthodox Christians. Gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev said he plans to sue Luzhkov for libel over the “satanic” crack. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993.