Russian village of seven people denied chance to hold a Pride parade
The small village were told the parade could go ahead before officials rejected the proposals
By Steve Brown
A village of seven people have been told they cannot hold a Pride parade in Russia.
For the first-time ever, the tiny village were authorised to hold a Pride parade by local authorities, however, this week a local official said that the event had been prohibited, the Moscow Times reported.
Following Putin’s 2013 anti-LGBT propaganda law, more and more local authorities have banned gay pride parades or backtracked on early promise to allow them.
Nikolai Alexeyey, an LGBT rights activist, said that the head of the small town on the Volga River granted a request to hold the LGBT celebration in the nearby village.
He wrote on social media: “The head of the Noyoulayanovsk administration, Svetlana Kosarinova, is the bravest person in Russia.
“She’s allowed a gay pride in the village of Yablonevy, with a population of seven people.”
The activist went on to say that holding the Pride event in a village with more than 131 people “would have been too progressive for modern Russia”.
He continued: “Thus, the first authorised gay parade in the history of Russia should take place on August 26.”
However, today (August 16), an unnamed official from the administration said that the event had been banned, the Govorit Moskva radio station reported.
“It will no longer be happening. The city head was not aware of the event, so he prohibited it,” the official was cited as saying.