For many decades gays and lesbians have been isolated from the world of politics. Not only gays and lesbians have not been allowed to voice out their concerns as a community, but also they dare not to be 'out' and behave naturally in the realm of conservative straight men who jealously protected their male supremacy in decision-making from being diluted or undermined by 'aliens', gays and women alike.

The gay liberation movement is the former Soviet countries is gaining momentum reclaiming its right to have a say in political affairs. Changes occur very slowly, traditional 'power brokers' represented by the Soviet-style bureaucracy and former apparatchiks are reluctant to live by international democratic standards and share their power. Gay and lesbian NGOs are still weak, sometimes led by incomptent leaders, but they keep trying to bring about the Slavic Stonewall and put end to the macho dominance in politics.

RUSSIA

---

2004

Communist labor party not yet clarified itself on homosexuality

Shandybin blames "lesbians from Tatu" in his defeat

Moscow City Duma asks public prosecutor to cope with "t.A.T.u"

“Singer-in-law” asked President Putin to clear TV of "goggle-eyed gays" and "belligerent sodomites"

2003

Duma deputies have supported an amendment to the criminal code "On criminal liability for propaganda of homosexuality"

Gay election: to be or not to be

Gay Club Complains of Looting

Moscow Gay Club Destroyed In Siege

Central Station, a Moscow Gay Club, has been damaged, not destroyed

Deputies Add Lesbian Sex to the List of Crimes
A deputy from the Russian Liberal Democratic Party moved to criminally prosecute sexual intercourse between consenting adult females to solve the demographic problem.

Deputies Want to Outlaw Gay Sex
The draft law criminalizing sex between consenting adult males was called a blatant publicity stunt by fellow deputies who do not expect that it would ever become law.

Russia Set to Recriminalize Gay Sex (2002)
Official Press-Release by the Russian gay group Gay.Ru
Five Russian MPs, among them the head of the Russian delegation to the Council of Europe, introduce a draft law that would make sexual intercourse between consenting adult males punishable with 1 to 5 years in jail.

U.S. Warns Gay Expats About Killers (2002)
Prosecutors Deny Any Link Between Murders of 4 Expats
The U.S. Embassy is urging Americans to be cautious after four foreigners were killed in the past two years, apparently after picking up someone at a Moscow gay club.

MTV Russia Endorses Homophobic Song (2001)
The MTV Russia provided its air time to broadcast an ovetly gay-bashing clip Fags Are Coming.

Banging Fists Against City Hall's Walls (2001)
The Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov makes it clear that the city is not for homosexuals or people of suspicious ethnic origin.

Love's Labor Lost, Says City Hall (2001)
The Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has banned the event that he thought to be a Gay Pride Parade inciting the antigay sentiment.

Unlawful Searches Target Moscow Gay Venues (2001)
A group of armed people in civilian clothing entered Moscow gay venues, harassed and filmed visitors, and searched the premises without a warrant.

Homophobia Used Against a Presidential Candidate (2000)
Political enemies of the democratic presidential candidate G. Yavlinsky broadcasted a fake support rally of effeminate gay men to appeal to homophobic feeling of voters.

Club-Goers Allege Beating in Drug Raid (1997)
Riot police storms Moscow's gay nightclub, beat, and harass its patrons in an attempt to close the club down.

Seeking Suspect, Troops Raid Club (1996)
Heavily armed militia troops raided Moscow's gay nightclub allegedly in a search for a murder suspect.

Gay Advocates, Out of the Closet (1994)
Just six months after the criminal punishment was abolished Moscow gays and lesbians founded the first gay advocacy group Triangle.

UKRAINE

---

Gay Community Center Harassed in Lugansk (2001)
Landlord of the gay community center attempts to evict inconvenient tenants.

Gay Community Center Opens in Lugansk (2001)
A group of gay activists in the small Ukrainian city of Luganks open the first full-time gay community center featuring a library, films collection, etc.

Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Conference (Kiev, October 2000).

Documents adopted by the conference:

• Press Statement by Our World (Nash Mir) Gay and Lesbian Center;
• Declaration of the Conference;
• Appeal to Gay and Lesbian Community of Eastern Europe;
• Appeal to Presidents, Governments and Parliaments of Eastern Europe.

BELARUS

---

Pride 2001 Bound to Fail Again? (2001)
Concerned individuals claim that Belarus Lambda League acts as a typical agent provocateur and agressively confronts authorities instead of working in the interests of the Belarus gay community.

Gay Magazine Prohibited in Belarus (2001)
In violation of the law the Belarus State Committee for Mass Media cancelled the registration of the only official gay publication in Belarus.

Failure of Belarus Gay Pride Was Staged to Get More Grants (2000)
Manifest incompetence and alleged bad faith actions of a Belarus gay organization resulted in the failure of much advertised Belarus Gay Pride 2000.

MOLDOVA

---

Moldovian Gay & Lesbian Empowerment Project Started (2001)
Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, witnessed the start of a three-year project conceived by COC Netherlands and Moldovian gay group GenderDoc-M dedicated to improve the position of gay men and lesbians in Moldova.

Europe Reacts to Homophobic Statements by Moldovian MP (2001)
Moldovian MP Vlad Cubreacov claims that homosexuals are not human beings, but received a powerful rebuttal from his European colleagues.