Yaroslavl LGBT activist Alan Erokh staged a single picket on Bogoyavlenskaya Square on January 28 in support of a pair of homosexuals who had their passports taken away in Moscow.
Erokh went to a single picket with a poster "Sacred marriage: with a 17-year-old without consent. Not a sacred marriage: between men after six years of relationship". She told the "7x7" correspondent that she wanted to support Pavel Stotsky and Evgeny Voytsekhovsky, who married in Denmark, returned to Moscow and stamped their passports as married in the multifunctional center.
They are accused of of intentionally damaging their documents — this is an administrative offense with penalty of 300 rubles.
"It is the right thing to do. To get married, to legitimize relationships is a natural desire for many. To put stamps, so that marriage was recognized — this is also a very important step. And since it does not contradict the laws, they did it right. And they were right to publish it, it's the first such case in Russia, it caused a huge resonance," Erokh said.
By "marriage with a 17-year-old without consent" Erokh meant the story of Chechnya wedding, which was told by "Novaya Gazeta". The 57-year-old police chief Najud Guchigov married schoolgirl Luisa Goilabieva.
The marriage of Goilabiyeva and Guchigov was widely covered in the Chechen media, the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov called it "the Millennium Wedding". According to "Novaya", the police chief was married at the time of the matchmaking. Relatives of the bride were absent at the wedding.
In support of Stotsko and Voytsekhovsky, the LGBT community started flashmobs under hashtags #СкажиБракамДа and #ДаБракамДляВсех.
Alan Erokh is an activist of the Kallisto LGBT community.
Daniil Kuznetsov, photo by Alexander Stepanov, «7x7»
