Gay people in Kirov Region are represented, for the most part, by assholes. That became clear when they were organizing a gay pride parade. They submitted some strange applications and never showed up to coordinate them. They did everything possible to hide from the local authorities that this application was in fact "the real thing." But they made every effort to ensure that all the LGBT community’s main "allies" were promptly informed of the time and place: - members of DPNI (the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, a Russian nationalist group); - Cossacks; - "Afghans" (Soviet-Afghan war veterans); - Orthodox believers, especially the most rabid among them. What’s more, they came up with a route that was deliberately set to intersect with the route of the Russian March (a nationalist demonstration). I’m all for full freedom of assembly, of course. And I understand the logic of "they won’t authorize us, so let’s provoke a scandal." But they should have understood that a scandal engineered this way could have led to someone getting killed. The PR effect is great, sure — but someone could get killed. Fortunately, nothing like that happened. Twenty minutes into the picket, the Kirov gay men and lesbians were taken to the police station (13 people). After reports were drawn up, they were released, and each was given a bouquet of forget-me-nots from the regional governor. "Still bloody repression," a consistent liberal will say — and will be right. Repression. They have the right to assemble. For Russian realities, I’d suggest adopting the format of the gay pride parade used in Jerusalem. So that gay people don’t get killed by straight people, they let them have their fun in a closed-off, secured stadium. Outraged citizens can express their protest by picketing the stadium. When the event is over, the gay participants are escorted home under protection. Something like that.
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