Marriage License Rejected for Gay Russians
The
Advocate, January 19, 2005
Two gay Russian men tried on Tuesday to get married in
Moscow to call attention to discrimination against gays and lesbians, but they
were turned away by authorities who told them marriage is a union between a
man and a woman, reports Agence France-Presse. Edvard Murzin, a deputy from
the region of Bashkortostan, and Eduard Mishin, who edits the Internet site
Gay.ru and the Kvir newspaper, handed in a marriage declaration to Moscow City
Hall.
After their attempt was turned down with the argument
that the Russian family code restricts marriage to a union between a woman and
a man, they went on the air at a local radio station to explain their
motivation. “We do not love each other, but we want to see the establishment
of justice. We share the same ideas and are united in the fight for
justice,” Mishin told Moscow Echo.
Admitting that they were actually creating a negative
image for themselves, Mishin said they had decided to go to City Hall because
“if we don’t do it, society will never do it.” Many Russian gays, he
added, believe the country is not ready for same-sex marriages, as practiced
in Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands. “Why should one wait until society
is ready? It’s not certain that society will become more tolerant with time;
the opposite could actually happen,” he said.
Both men vowed to take their case to court, if necessary,
or all the way to the supreme court or even the European Court of Human
Rights. Murzin lamented what he said is an increase in Russia of hate crimes
against people who are “different,” asserting that “nontraditional
members of society have the same rights as others.” He had tried to get the
family code of Bashkortostan changed to include same-sex marriages, while
Mishin had put a personal ad on his Web site looking for a fiance. Failing to
get a response, Mishin decided to try to get married to Murzin. “I am
disappointed by the Russian homosexual community.... People are not ready to
fight for their rights and support us. They are worried that the article in
the penal code which makes homosexuality a crime will be restored.”
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