Authorities of Yoshkar-Ola suggested moving picket in support of Russian gay marriage scheduled for October 11 from Jubilee Square of 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union in the capital of Mari El to the outskirts of the village of Ignatievo, part of urban area. This is stated in an official letter to the deputy mayor of Yoshkar-Ola Svetlana Adonina to activist of LGBT movement Nikolai Alekseev.
The city authorities have explained their proposal by vicinity of kindergarten and sports complex.
After the answer of Yoshkar-Ola administration with a proposal of the outskirts of the village Ignatievo was published by media, city authorities sent the initiators a new letter with a warning about the responsibility of holding unagreed action.
According to Alekseev, new notification was sent to the mayor's office in response to the offer of the authorities to change the place of the picket. However, activist believes that officials pretended they did not receive it.
'We are still waiting for their order, but I suspect that we won't get it,' he said to «7x7». Alekseev announced his intention to challenge the ban on holding a picket in Yoshkar-Ola in court.
Deputy mayor of Yoshkar-Ola Svetlana Adonina who sent letters to LGBT activist is on vacation. Alexey Gusev who substitutes Adonina was unavailable for a comment. A spokesman of the city administration Natalia Bazhina confirmed that there were no agreement on picket in Ignatievo. She has no information about new notification received from activists.
Ignatievo is located approximately five kilometers east of Yoshkar-Ola. There are 152 inhabitants. LGBT activists planned to hold picket from 18 to 19 hours on October 11. Founder of the movement of the Moscow Gay Pride Nikolai Alekseev conducts lawsuits for refuse to hold LGBT events in Kostroma, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sochi, Tambov, Simferopol, Sevastopol, Yalta, Khimki and Ryazan.
Dmitry Lyubimov, «7x7»
