Last week I wrote about the lesbian couple, Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko, who planned on being the first gay couple to apply for a marriage license in Russia. Russian gay activists didn’t think there was much chance.
And they were right. The couple was denied the marriage license by Moscow officials.
Mercury News reports:
. . . a flustered-looking official denied their application Tuesday, a move that gay rights activists say symbolizes the refusal of many Russian officials to recognize the rights of the country’s gay and lesbian communities. Registry office director Svetlana Potamoshneva, seemingly embarrassed, handed them a written rejection and said Russian law recognizes only marriages between a man and a woman.
Irina Fedotova and Irina Shipitko said they would not give up.
The event was the first of two this week that will put the issue of gay rights—which many Russians regard as controversial—on the public stage in Moscow.
Fedotova and Shepitko sought to marry ahead of a gay pride parade Saturday, scheduled to coincide with the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest. Gay rights activists hope the media covering the event also will focus on their cause.
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