By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
MOSCOW, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A lesbian couple plans to use a loophole in Russian law to bring homosexual “marriage” to the country, according to a report by the British news agency Reuters.
Irina Fyet, 31, and her anonymous partner, plan to go to Toronto or Norway to get “married,” the agency reports. Then, using a loophole they claim exists in the law, they plan to apply for recognition for their “marriage” in their home country.
Russian homosexualist activist Nikolai Alekseyev admitted to Reuters that the strategy is a long shot, stating that “I am 99 percent sure there will be a refusal, but maybe later the situation in Russia can change, the political feeling can change.”
Russian homosexual activists have been using international institutions to attempt to pressure government authorities to accede to their demands for special rights and recognition.
In 2006 the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe, Giovanni di Stas, condemned Moscow for its refusal to permit “gay pride” marches. Russian homosexual activists have also sought to appeal their cases to the European Court of Human Rights.
As LifeSiteNews has reported in recent years, the Russian government and the city of Moscow in particular have taken a firm position against granting special rights to homosexuals and have denied them permission to hold a “gay pride” parade.
Although some Russian cities have reportedly permitted homosexual marches, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov has firmly refused to give permission for such display, calling them “satanic” and promising that “we are not going to allow it in the future.”
Luzhkov has kept his promise, made in 2007, and has continued to prohibit the parades in Moscow.
Russians are generally opposed to homosexual behavior, and Russia’s most prominent religious leaders from the Orthodox, Jewish, and Islamic traditions have all denounced the homosexual movement in Russia.
See related LifeSiteNews coaverage:
Moscow Mayor Luzhkov Says “No” to Gay Pride Parade https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051904.html
Moscow Gay Pride Ban Rebuked by Council of Europe https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06033003.html
Russia’s Chief Rabbi: Perverse Gay Pride as Bad as Anti-Religious Cartoons
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06021706.html
Russian Jewish Leaders Join Orthodox in Supporting Moscow Mayor’s Ban on Gay Pride https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051904.html
Homosexual Activists Ignore Authorities, Go Ahead with Illegal “Gay Pride” in Moscow
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052903.html