Sunday, May 17, 2009

(Anti-)Gay Moscow


The (I suppose) world-famous Eurovision contest was held in Moscow this week. Who cares? I know I don't, but the queer blogosphere was enamored with it. The back story is far more interesting.

Moscow has denied LGBT folks the right to Pride, again, this year. Activists believed that bringing Eurovision to the city would "open it up" a bit and bring international focus on the treatment of LGBT folks in the Russian capital. And boy did the Russian government fuck this one up. A small cadre of activists demonstrated outside the musical Olympics, shouting and chanting for equality and equal treatment. Rather than allow the peaceable demonstration to go on, they were broken up and arrested. Europe is noticing and the international attention that was supposed to spin Russia positively has been tarnished, instead; and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov looks like a real winner, calling the demonstration "Satanic" and homosexuals as "weapons of mass destruction."

Thus giving the queer blogosphere more to talk about -- especially the wording on the back of the police's uniform ("OMOH"). I would say so.

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