Gay Pride in Minsk banned
Minsk city executive committee has banned Minsk Gay Pride alon Akademik Krasin Street in the micro district of Sosny.
It is stated in the press-release published by the human rights project “Gay Belarus.”
On October 7 at a press-conference for Russian mass media Lukashenka stated that he homosexuality is unacceptable for him, but he would not ban gay parades like Russia does. “I would not ban that. Somewhere in the outskirts of the city, for people to wonder… let them show to the people what they can,” the leader said.
As the press-release of “Gay Belarus” reads, the applicants for holding the Gay Pride had received an answer from Minsk city executive committee, where officials state that “the march is forbidden.” The letter is signed by the deputy chairman of Minsk city executive committee Ihar Karpenka.
“Despite the fact that the route of the march was situated far from the city centre in a deserted place, the city authorities decided that the public rally of the LGBT community should be banned, as holding the event had been planned at a distance of 50 metres from the territory of organisations providing vital activities of the population,” “Gay Belarus” report stresses.
Besides, the authorities decided that “holding this rally would hinder pedestrian traffic and even the transport traffic.”
“I find prohibition of Minsk Gay Pride discriminatory and repressive. It could be clearly seen from justification of the ban. We filed an application for holding the rally far from central Minsk to demonstrate Belarusians and the world the absurdity and the authoritarian nature of the Belarusian political system,” Siarhei Androsenka, the chairman of the steering committee of Minsk Gay Pride told BelaPAN commenting on the decision.
