Our NGO is the main LGBT advocacy group defending equal rights for LGBT people in Russia. Considering that nothing has been done for LGBT people in Russia since the decriminalization of male homosexuality in 1993, a small team of activists lead by Nikolai Alekseev decided to launch a direct action group with the aim to make LGBT people visible in order to gradually advance the rights of sexual min
orities. The Moscow Pride initiative, which was announced in July 2005, drew a lot of attention on the LGBT community with media starting to show a large interest for the opposition between organizers and the opponents. GayRussia is following a dual strategy: organizing direct actions to raise awareness and challenging homophobia through Courts. In 2010, GayRussia won the first-ever LGBT case against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights (Alekseeev vs. Russia-case of the Moscow Pride bans). Whether some like it or not, Moscow Pride has changed forever the perception and the interest for the LGBT community in Russia. Read more about all our campaigns for Equal Rights of LGBT people on our website.
