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Russian Gays
Disappointed in Clinton
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Russia's leading gay activist said Wednesday
that he was disappointed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with an
outspoken foe of gay rights during her two-day trip to Russia and did not
decry homophobia in the country. Clinton attended a ceremony unveiling a
statue of Walt Whitman at Moscow State University with Russian officials
including Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Luzhkov has blocked all attempts to hold
gay pride marches in Moscow, once saying they "can be described in no
other way than as satanic." Clinton did not mention of the issue during
the ceremony. Some biographers have described Whitman as homosexual and U.S.
gay activists have claimed him as symbol of their movement. "Just as Pushkin and Whitman reset
poetry we are resetting our relations for the 21st century," Clinton
said. A statue of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was erected at George
Washington University, in Washington, D.C., in 2000. It was not clear whether Luzhkov was aware of
Whitman's status as a gay icon, and sponsors of the statue said they were
honoring Whitman strictly for his contributions to literature. "Whitman transcended his sexuality in
his art and I would like to thank Mayor Luzhkov for welcoming him in his city
and have absolutely nothing to say about those things," said James W.
Symington, a former four-time congressman for Missouri and representative of
the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation. Gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev said Wednesday
he was disappointed Clinton did not discuss discrimination against gays. "Russia is supposed to be a democracy
and she said nothing," he said. Alexeyev had called on Clinton to denounce
what he called entrenched and degrading homophobic attitudes in Russia at a
news conference Tuesday. A U.S. State Department spokesman said the
department was unaware of any request from the Russian gay community. Homosexuality was only decriminalized in
Russia in 1993 and homophobic attitudes remain widespread. Activists have taken the struggle to hold a
gay pride parade in Moscow to the European Court of Justice, which is
scheduled to rule on the issue in early 2010. The statue of Walt Whitman was placed in the
gardens of Moscow State University, where in May more than 30 gay activists
were arrested for attempting to hold a pride march. The statue of Walt Whitman will complement a
statue of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin installed in Washington in 2000.
Whitman sculptor Alexander Bourganov remarked
at a press conference Tuesday that the opening had been delayed and been
politically difficult. He did not elaborate. |
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