The police were unable to stop the LGBT coven in the center of Moscow: Which gays are associated with Navalny
In the very center of Moscow, gays and lesbians held a festival called “Open Art in a Closed Country. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow". Activists of the SERB organization led by Gosha Tarasevich came to the club building to express their indignation at gay propaganda, but security did not allow them inside. Community members called the police. Law enforcement officers went inside to check, but the event was not stopped.
But blogger and reporter Sergei Rulev managed to get through security, who filmed what was happening behind closed doors and found out which LGBT representatives were associated with the opposition, which recently hung rainbow flags around Moscow. The following is Rulev's story:
It was enough to look at the poster for this event, and it immediately became clear that in the very center of Moscow, less than a kilometer from the AP, a meeting was being held with souvenirs, gifts and a buffet for gays and lesbians.
Three police buses parked at the nearest synagogue, 50 meters from the club. To get inside the workshop on Kulishki, I had to go through not only face control, but also be triple-checked like at all three Moscow airports - I was tricked by a hired security guard, a young lesbian, and a not-so-young gay man.
I did not prudently use any journalistic credentials, since the announcement stated quite categorically that “The event is private and intended for people over 18 years of age. Please bring your original ID with you. The organizer reserves the right to refuse presence at the site without giving reasons.”
Along with a medical mask, gloves, booklets, badges, rings and a wrist patch, guests were given a yellow tennis ball, which had to be lowered into one of the standing glass cylinders. On one cylinder there was an inscription that “you feel safe in this country”, and the second cylinder was signed in reverse - “you do not feel safe”.
Looking ahead, I note that the vast majority of those gathered did not feel safe, and two of those who arrived were undecided and left their balls outside the glass cylinders.
My appearance in a denim suit from the market on Cherkizon aroused interest among the girls taking pictures (or maybe they weren’t girls, the devil knows), and one got nervous when she saw a tricolor with Velcro and a round badge with a double-headed eagle on my jacket.
But no one supported the lady’s indignation, since everyone was in anticipation of the action - performances by gays who talked about what it was like for them since Soviet times, when there was a criminal article for sodomy.
On the wall hung portraits of real people who were convicted under this article. The interior of the club was decorated in Soviet style - the organizers placed portraits of Vladimir Putin and Joseph Stalin nearby.
Having heard plenty of speeches about repressions in the USSR and Russia, those gathered began to devour treats at the buffet table.
I, taking advantage of the moment, asked some extravagant characters if they were connected with the opposition, which just the day before was hanging rainbow flags over government institutions in Moscow. One of the main speakers of the event, openly gay since 1985, Igor Dudarov, who previously tried to get into power on Yabloko’s lists, answered in the affirmative about meeting representatives of Alexei Navalny’s headquarters.
The head of the LGBT festival's press service, Olga Baranova, later sent out a press release that mentioned the appearance of "police and provocateurs."
“We were glad to see them, and they were convinced how interesting it is,” Baranova assured, promising that there would be “even more interesting events” ahead.
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