5 April 2012 

Coming Out 

Today St. Petersburg city administration denied LGBT activists the right to organize an International Day of Silence street protest. Basis for denial – the infamous "gay propaganda" law, which came into effect in St. Petersburg on March 30 of this year.

This is the first application of the anti-gay law in St. Petersburg, the heart of the Russian LGBT rights movement.

Contrary to numerous assurances by Russian politicians, including the author of the law in St. Petersburg Vitaly Milonov, St. Petersburg governor Georgiy Poltavchenko, and other members of the United Russia party, that this law is not meant to violate the rights of LGBT citizens or to hinder LGBT human rights activity, the facts speak to the contrary. [Read more]

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For further information:
Olga Lenkova (Coming Out communications manager): +7 921 585 6106 
Mikhail Belodedov (Coming Out advocacy manager): +7 904 604 1529 
http://www.comingoutspb.ru