NEWS RELEASE
12 November 2006

RUSSIAN GAY ACTIVIST VOWS TO FIGHT ON

London 12 November 2006 - The Russian gay activist Nicolai Alekseev
has vowed to fight on after Moscow Pride 2006 was officially banned by
Moscow's mayor and the protest about
this was disrupted.

In a moving and inspiring speech to his audience at the Gay & Lesbian
Humanist Association's annual lunch in London on Saturday, Alekseev
described the hostility which participants in Moscow Pride 2006 had to
face from a coalition of fascist thugs and Orthodox Christian
religionsts. He said they had been "bloodied but unbowed" and would
certainly be back with a vengeance in 2007. Given time, he predicted,
the situation for LGBT people in Russia would be as favourable as it
is now in Western European countries. His speech was received with an
ecstatic ovation and he was presented with an award in
recognition of "his courage in challenging homophobia in Russia and
beyond".

Later Alekseev expressed his delight at the recognition expressed by
Sir Elton John in The Observer Music Monthly that in countries such as
Poland, Latvia and Russia "there is a huge anti-gay movement and a lot
of it is started by the Church", and that he, Jake Shears of the
Scissors Sisters, and the Pet Shop Boys, should play a Gay Pride
concert in Russia.

A lawyer who lives and works in Moscow, Alekseev is the founder and
head of Project Gay Russia and the executive secretary of the
International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). He has been actively
challenging homophobia in Russia for the last four years and took a
leading role in the planning of Moscow Pride. He has also has been
very active in campaigns in other Eastern European countries, notably
Latvia.

The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) flew him in from
Moscow to speak at its public meeting concerning homophobia in Eastern
Europe on 10 November and its annual lunch as guest-of-honour and
keynote speaker on 11 November.

At the meeting, which was held at London's Conway Hall, he was joined
on the panel of speakers by journalist Andy Harley, GALHA's Derek
Lennard, the UK co-ordinator for the International Day Against
Homophobia, Peter Tatchell of OutRage! and Jason Pollock, the
executive director of London Pride.

'Free for use' photos of the occassion can be downloaded from here:
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/gayhumanist/sets/72157594373425991/

ENDS

For more information phone Terry Sanderson on 020 8998 1519

GALHA President: Maureen Duffy. Vice-Presidents: Michael Cashman MEP;
Patrick Harvie MSP; Dr Evan Harris MP; Dr James Hemming; Darren
Johnson; Sir Michael Levey LVO, FBA, FRSL; George Melly; Maryam
Namazie; Taslima Nasreen; Claire Rayner MBE; Dr Harry Stopes-Roe;
Barbara Smoker; Professor Rob Tielman; Angela Willans.

GAY AND LESBIAN HUMANIST ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL OFFICE
34 SPRING LANE, KENILWORTH
WARWICKSHIRE CV8 2HB
UNITED KINGDOM
TEL AND FAX 01926 858450
EMAIL  secretary@galha.org
WEBSITE www.galha.org

Affiliated to Amnesty International &
the International Humanist & Ethical Union
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