Moscow Gay Pride Launched

Moscow Gay Pride launched

Fifth bid to challenge Mayor’s Pride ban

Tatchell says Moscow Mayor is “criminal and should be put on trial”

Moscow – 27 May 2010

The fifth attempt to hold a Moscow Pride parade was launched today in the Grand Ballroom at the Lesnaya Holiday Inn hotel in Moscow.

Nikolai Alekseev, the Moscow Pride organizer, announced at the press conference:

“The courts today rejected our appeal against the banning of three Gay Pride rallies. We asked to hold these rallies in central Moscow this Saturday 29 May. Now we go to court on Friday in a bid to overturn the Mayor’s ban on holding a Gay Pride march through Moscow on Saturday,”
he said.

Organisers are not hopeful that the ban will be revoked.

“The Mayor’s reputation and authority is at stake. He has refused us for the last five years, ever since our first attempted gay parade in 2006. I hope he will change his mind but I doubt it. Mayor Luzhkov is not a great lover of democracy, human rights or gay people. Whatever the courts decide, the right to protest is guaranteed under the Russian constitution and we intend to exercise our rights,” added Mr Alekseev.

Today’s Moscow Pride launch and press conference was attended by international delegates and speakers, who were there to support the Russian gay activists, including Volker Beck, the German Green MP; Louis-Georges Tin, founder of the International Day Against Homophobia and President of the IDAHO Committee; Andy Thayer, the US gays rights activist; and Peter Tatchell, coordinator of the British gay human rights group OutRage! and human rights spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales.

Mr Tatchell told the press conference:

“The ban on Moscow Pride is illegal and Mayor Luzhkov is a criminal for banning it. He should be put on trial for violating the Russian constitution. The real criminals are not the organizers of Moscow Pride, but the mayor of Moscow and the judges who uphold this illegal ban.

“President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin are colluding with this ban by failing to order it to be overturned. I call on the Russian President and Prime Minister to show leadership by publicly condemning the ban and by calling on the mayor of Moscow to lift it. They should ensure freedom of expression and the right to protest to all the citizens of Moscow and Russia, gay and straight.

“We are here to defend the human rights of all Russian people. Many different rights have been violated by the authorities. It is not just gay people whose freedoms are being trampled on.

“Russia is a great nation with a proud and great history. Many important figures in Russian history have been gay or bisexual, including Sergei Eisenstein, Peter Tchaikovsky, Rudolph Nureyev, Sergei Diaghilev, Modest Musssorgsky and Nikolai Gogol. The gay contribution to Russian history deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated, with pride,” said Mr Tatchell.

Ship of Fools

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/26/ireland-economic-collapse

A grim article on what Ireland is now experiencing and the model of cuts which the Tories openly praised before the elections. I experienced a lot of this first hand on my recent visit there. I am currently reading Fintan O’Toole’s book ‘Ship of Fools’ which tells the story of the crisis. Interesting that the Coalition here are taking soundings from the Coalition there.

Irish Impressions

So exahausted after the general and local elections I went to visit my family and friends in Ireland. My travels took me to Dublin, West Cork and Maynooth, County Kildare.

I had also decided to buy tickets to attend the Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival, but this being Ireland it turned out that there were two! Apparently the directors of the previous one festival and had fallen out and just to rub salt in each other's wounds had organised both of their festivals for the same week. It remeinded me of the witty remark of the Irish writer Brendan Behan who wrote: "The first item on the agenda of any Irish meeting is the split." I saw a number of good productions there ranging from a group of insane Australian drag queens called 'Drags Aloud' to James Joyce's only play 'Exiles' on open relationships, but given a gay twist, which was performed in the James Joyce Centre in a wonderful Georgian house with splendid ceilings. I also visited a wonderful pub called Kavanaghs situated beside the gate into Glasnevin cemetery, which I had not been into since I was at school in the nearby St Vincent's. The interior is wonderful - totally unchanged since about 1890 and is mentioned in several of Joyce's works in connections with wakes after funerals. It is affectionately known in the area as 'the gravediggers pub'.

West Cork was splendid, although I only had time to spend one night in the tiny village of Ballybritain, with my friend Geoff, now Head of History at Cork University, and his partner Celia. Geoff Roberts is a leading historian on the life of Stalin and his era and has just spent several years researching the life of Marshal Zhukov, the Soviet Supreme Commander in World War 2 and who is regarded as the military commander who defeated Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front. Geoff had been to interview Zhukov's wife in Moscow and I think a book is forthcoming soon. He has written books on 'Stalin as war leader' and 'Victory at Stalingrad. The battle that changed history'. Geoff and Celia are living in the former parish priest's house in the village which is directly opposite a huge Marian shrine, complete with statues of the Virgin Mary and St Bernadette. Rather appropriate for the only two self confessed atheists in the village!

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/ias/visitingfellows/07-08/geoffreyroberts/

Returning to Dublin I met up with some of the disaffected former Greens in Ireland, including former MEP, Patrician Mc Kenna, former Councillor, Bronwen Maher and current councillors Pat Kavanagh from Wicklow and Chris O'Leary from Cork, all of whom have resigned from the Irish Green Party over its sharp turn to the Right and role in the current coalition government. They are holding an event in Dublin on June 26th called 'The Emerald Forum' for all those ex Greens and others disillusioned with the stance of the current Irish Green Party. I am also hoping that one of them will be a guest speaker at the Green Left AGM on June 19th in London. There are many parallels between the situation of the Irish Greens in the coalition and the Lib Dems here. Both are locked into their respective deals as leaving would invite destruction at the hands of the electorate. This is why I placed a £10 bet yesterday with a friend that the Lib Dems will see out at least 4 years in the current coalition. The situation in Ireland is so bad that 3 constituencies with no MPs have been left over a year without a by election being called because the government is terrified of losing its paper thin majority in the Dail (Irish Parliament).

The effect of the economic collapse is everywhere visible - empty office blocks and shops to let. Many public servants have had their salaries slashed by as much as 15% and my brother who works for the Irish Times is bitter that he has to work one extra day per week for the same salary. The government drones on that the corner has been turned and that the uplift is coming but as unemployment grows, emigration to Canada and Australia increases - I even saw an ad on a Dublin bus for work visas in Australia. The medicine which the Irish have swallowed is being recommended to all others in the EU and is what the Tories also have planned for us. Indeed many people in Ireland told me that a similar dose would be administered to the UK in the near future by the Coalition. The impact of being in the Eurozone has had a particularly damaging impact on Ireland and several people told me that they questioned whether the Euro would continue or whether Ireland would remain in it. But it seems that like the Bourbons, the Irish have learnt nothing from history. The government still boasts of the lowest rate of corporation tax in the EU, while the multinationals having got their tax breaks up sticks and head off to Eastern Europe. There are many lessons, both economic and political to be learnt from the Irish experience.

A quote from Joyce springs to mind: "Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow."

Thank you

Firstly, I would like to thank all of those who voted for me in Vauxhall. I am afraid that we were squeezed by the large turnout and the increase in the Labour vote across Lambeth. Interesting that there also seems to be some Tory support developing in Vauxhall also - probably the luxury flats along the river - they were just behind the Lib Dems.

My colleagues in Herne Hill dramatically increased the Green vote there and if it had not been for the general election on the same day, I am sure that we would have seen at least one Green councillor there. Sadly Lambeth will now be without any Green representation for the next four years but I am sure that the Lambeth Green Party will continue to play a role in the political life of the borough. As for Vauxhall, it appears that we may be having a general election within a year, the way that things are working out at national level. I sincerely hope that the Lib Dems will hold out for general electoral reform which would alter the political landscape incredibly. But we will have to see.

I did not get home until 9am yesterday morning after the count and then the local election count was yesterday. Obviously the big news of this election was the success of Caroline Lucas in Brighton - we finally have a radical Green voice in the Commons. The other high for me was the defeat of the BNP in Barking.

I am now going away to Ireland for a week to see family and friends. I will take up this blog in some form when I return. Once again, thanks to all of those who supported me in Vauxhall and Prince's ward.

Vote against the war tomorrow

Stop the War Coalition have issued the statement below re the general election. The Greens are the only main party calling for an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of troops. In Vauxhall Kate Hoey has not responded to the survey and neither has the Tory candidate (not altogether surprising). Caroline Pidgeon for the Lib Dems has stated that they support continuing the mission for the present. As a Green Party candidate I have been opposed to the war from the start and am on the national committee of Stop the War Coalition.

As STWC rightly point out, there has been a conspiracy of silence from the main parties about the war. But billions of tax payers badly needed funding for schools, hospitals and jobs is being poured into this futile conflict and thousands of lives, both Afghan and British are being lost. A vote for me is a vote against the war and Trident and nuclear weapons. The generals and the arms industry want to continue feeding the insatiable appetite of the war machine. Vote against the war - vote Green tomorrow.

 HOW TO USE YOUR VOTE AGAINST THE WAR

Stop the war's lobbying database can help you decide how to

vote against the war in Thursday's election. Thousands of

people have used it to question their candidates on a range of

issues concerning the "war on terror".



Of those who replied so far, 17 per cent of Labour and 17 per

cent of Liberal Democrat candidates support our call for the

troops to come home. Many of the smaller parties have higher

pecentages of candidates opposing the war. Not one

Conservative candidate has supported the call for the troops

to be withdarwn.

HOW TO LOBBY YOUR LOCAL ELECTION CANDIDATES

* Go to http://bit.ly/91ATZw

* Enter your post code

* Complete the survey (takes one or two minutes)



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Richard Littlejohn and the Daily Mail come out for Kate Hoey in Vauxhall

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1271450/GENERAL-ELECTION-2010-Ive-tell-people-vote-.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Yes, its true. Littlejohn, the voice of bigotry and the Right has come out for Kate Hoey in Vauxhall. Littlejohn writes: " Elsewhere I would back decent constituency MPs such as Kate Hoey in Vauxhall..." Nuff said.

Top ten policies from our costed manifesto

Only two days left before the election. Here is a bird's eye view of what the Green Party is offering in this election. All of them are costed. For a radical alternative in Vauxhall - vote Green.

Green Party – top ten policies from our costed manifesto.

The full version can be read online at  http://www.greenparty.org.uk/




1. Stabilising the economy

Regulate the financial sector, permanently tax bankers’ bonuses and introduce the Robin Hood tax on international financial transactions, while reducing corporation tax for small firms.

2. Creating jobs

Create one million jobs in areas such as local manufacturing and food production, public transport, renewable energy, home insulation and repairing and recycling goods.

3. Education

Abolish formalised SATs testing for 11 year olds and reduce the huge paperwork burden on teachers. Protect schools and universities from cuts and privatisation, and abolish university fees.

4. Protecting public services

Protect public services from cuts and privatisation: keep the NHS public, protect Sure Start nurseries, re-open Post Offices, abolish charges for prescriptions and dentistry.

5. Pensions and care for the elderly

Introduce free social care for the elderly as in Scotland and raise the basic state pension to £170 a week.

6. Affordable housing

Take action to ensure that the million empty homes nationwide are brought back into use; introduce free home insulation for all homes within 5 years; and enable local councils to build new council housing again.

7. Transport

Redirect transport funding towards public transport, regulate the buses and renationalise the railways to ensure we have affordable and reliable public transport in the future. Improve cycle routes and pedestrian safety measures.

8. Youth facilities

Double spending on out of school services for young people to give them something to do and somewhere to go and introduce a national youth volunteering programme for the under 18s.

9. Climate change and energy security

The UK should lead the world by example in tackling climate change: energy efficiency measures in buildings, reducing travel miles by providing services like Post Offices locally and localising the economy, investment in renewable energy rather than nuclear power.

10. Democracy and Parliamentary reform

Replace the House of Lords with a fully elected second chamber; decentralise power to local councils and communities; restrict the lobbying power of big business over MPs; prevent MPs from holding directorships and consultancies that stop them being full-time MPs and may result in conflicts of interest.