Moscow Mayor Says City Banned Gays Because It Is "Morally Cleaner Than West"
Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer Moscow, Russia (AHN)-Moscow's influential mayor says the city banned gay activists from holding a parade because it is morally cleaner than the West, which is caught up in "mad licentiousness." The gay activists had wanted to lay flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior, a monument to those who died defeating Nazi Germany, but police, militant Christians, and neo-fascists blocked their path. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has run Russia's capital with an 'iron fist' since 1992, says such an action would have been a desecration of the sacred monument, and rejected Western criticism of his ban as prejudiced and homophobic. Talking to Moscow radio, Luzhkov says, "Our way of life, our morals and our tradition- our morals are cleaner in all ways. The West has something to learn from us and should not race along in this mad licentiousness." Luzhkov goes on to say, "We may have a democratic country, but we live in an organized country and an organized city." Meanwhile, gay activists, who were arrested when they arrived at the park with flowers, says the mere fact of holding the protest was a victory.
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