Nikolai Alexandrowitsch Alexejew (activist)

Nikolai Alexejew at a press conference on May 5, 2009

Brochure produced for the film Moscow Pride '06

Nikolai Alexandrowitsch Alexejew ( Russian: Николай Александрович Алексеев ; born December 23, 1977 in Moscow ) is a Russian lawyer, LGBT activist and publicist . In recent years he has mainly campaigned for the right to freedom of assembly of lesbians and gays in Russia in his role as the organizer of Moscow Pride , which has been regularly banned by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov since early 2006 .

Life

Born and raised in Moscow, Alexejew graduated from Lomonosov University with a diploma with honors. After graduation, he enrolled in his faculty's doctoral program, but was forced to leave university after it became known that he was writing a thesis on the rights of sexual minorities in Russia and the world. His dispute against the university in Russian courts failed, whereupon he turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg , France . This procedure is still pending.

In 2005 he founded the Gayrussia.ru project , which very quickly became the main source of information on the LGBT situation in Russia and a driving force for equal rights for LGBT people in Russia. In July 2005, Nikolai Alexejew first expressed the idea of Moscow Pride at a press conference. Moscow Pride has been regularly banned by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luschkow, who referred to it as a "Satan Show".

Nikolai Alexejew is the producer of the documentary Moskva Pride '06 , which shows the events surrounding the first Moscow Pride on May 27, 2006.

The documentary East / West - Sex & Politics by Jochen Hick follows Nikolai Alexejew's attempts to organize the Moscow Pride in 2007.

Current positions

• Head of the project Gayrussia.ru
• Main organizer of Moscow Pride since 2006
• Vice President of the International Day Against Homophobia
• InterPride -Director for Eastern Europe

Fight for the rights of gays and lesbians in Russia and Belarus

July 2005 can be seen as the starting point for Nikolai Alexejew's campaigns. The plan to hold a gay pride in Moscow was announced by him during a press conference on July 28, 2005. He answered a journalist's question: “And what is the gay community planning in Russia?” After Alexeyev replied, Interfax contacted the Lord Mayor of Moscow, Mr. Yuri Luzhkov , and asked him if he would approve such an event. In his answer, Yuri Luzhkov did not consider what the consequences would be: "I insist on protecting the interests of the citizens of Moscow, who will in no way support such a project." The press conference was originally held to focus on the situation of gays in Iran to draw attention to those threatened with the death penalty.

Attracting the attention of the mass media became one of Nikolai Alexeyev's central strategies. He stated that before Moscow Pride, gays and lesbians in Russia were always portrayed in a negative way. Moscow Pride "shows that gays and lesbians are not ready to surrender to homophobia ." For the first time, "the mass media have shown an interest in reporting on homosexuality in Russia."

In November Nikolai Alexeyev and three other activists from Russia traveled to Belarus to hold a seminar with a group of gay and lesbian activists in Minsk . The activists agreed to work together in the future and founded the Slavic Pride movement. Alexejew works with the group "Gaybelarus" and its leader Sergey Androschenko.

Protest of the groups Gayrussia and Gaybelarus in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 16, 2009 in front of the headquarters of the United Nations.

In February 2009, Nikolai Alexejew invited Sergey Androschenko to take part in a trip to various European institutions, for example the European Parliament , the European Commission , the Council of Europe and the United Nations in Geneva .

On September 26th, 2009 the groups Gayrussia and Gaybelarus organized an LGBT conference in Minsk , Belarus, in the 5-star hotel Crown Plaza . The conference itself was organized under the auspices of the International Day Against Homophobia . The delegation of the European Commission in Belarus has given its political support for the event. In his opening speech, Jean-Eric Holzapfel, Head of the European Commission in Belarus, emphasized the need to combat homophobia in Europe and in Belarus in particular. Representatives from the Swedish, French and Hungarian embassies and a representative from the Civil Rights Defenders organization (formerly the Swedish Helsinki Committee) were also present as observers. The conference participants discussed and adopted a joint resolution on the rights of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people in Belarus. The text, which was sent to President Aljaksandr Lukashenka , the Belarusian government and parliament, calls for a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the prosecution of hate speech, the recognition of the rights of same-sex couples and the recognition of the 17th century. May as a day against homophobia. Furthermore, the authorities were asked to support Slavic Pride in Minsk on May 15, 2010.

On September 15, 2010 Alexejew was arrested by the Russian secret service FSB at Moscow Airport. According to the Bundestag member Volker Beck, it is assumed that Alexejew will be forced to cancel the demonstration against Moscow Mayor Luzhkov that he has announced for September 21. Alexeyev is accused of having filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Moscow city government. This had banned a demonstration announced by Alexejew by the police. Alexeev should be forced to withdraw his complaints and refrain from further ones. He was released again and phoned Volker Beck, to whom he denied the authorities' representation.

Quotes

“Conformism and passivity are now behind us. We have managed to arouse passion and hope, this will find its way into the hearts of many LGBT people in Russia and awaken the spirit of activism . "

“I thought the main problem facing the gay community was lack of funding, I was wrong. The crucial thing that this movement needs is courage and an ideal, without an ideal nothing is possible. "

“You cannot work on human rights, you can only work on the issue of human rights. The fight for human rights cannot be a job. The struggle for human rights is always an ideal. "

See also

• Homosexuality in Russia
• Homosexuality in Belarus

Web links

Commons : Nikolai Alexejew  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Movie Moskva. Pride '06 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Film East / West - Sex & Politics in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Project “gayrussia” started by Sergey Androschenko (English, Russian)
• Project “gaybelarus” started by Sergey Androschenko (English, Belarusian, Russian)
• Blog “gayswithoutborders” started by Nikolai Alexejew and others
• Nikolai Alexejew in conversation with Philippe Schockweiler, spokesman for the Luxembourg Green Youth (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Moscow: OB Luschkow describes the gay parade as a "Satanshow" . Retrieved August 1, 2009.
2. ^ Nikolai Alekseev profile (s) . Archived from the original on May 20, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
3. ↑ Moskva. Pride '06. Internet Movie Database , accessed May 22, 2015 . 
4. ^ East / West - Sex & Politics. Internet Movie Database , accessed May 22, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Russian gays to hold parade on Eurovision final . Retrieved on August 14, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ What is the Moscow Pride? . Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
7. ↑ IDAHO Group Officially Created in Paris as a Gay NGO . Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
8. ↑ Moscow Mayor Says 'Nyet' to Gay Pride in Russian Capital . Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
9. ↑ Belarusian, Russian Activists Agree a Slavic Gay Pride for Moscow in May Next Year . Retrieved on August 14, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ history Moscow Pride . Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
11. ↑ Belarusian, Russian Activists Agree a Slavic Gay Pride for Moscow in May Next Year . Retrieved on August 14, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ^ Luxembourg Greens Back Gay Rights in Russia, Belarus. . Retrieved on August 14, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ^ Hundred Participants at Minsk Gay Rights Conference - Resolution on LGBT Rights in Belarus Adopted - and No Incidents . Accessed on September 30, 2009.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ Release Nikolai Alekseev immediately . Retrieved September 20, 2010.
15. ↑ Russian Gay Activist: "I Never Was in Minsk - I Never Sent Any SMS Messages": "Abducted" Alekseev surfaces in Russia, not Belarus . UK gay news. 17 September 2010
16. ^ Moscow Gay Pride Documentary Premiers at National Film Center . Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 14, 2009. 
17. ↑ Nikolai Alekseev: Address on May 25, 2009 ( Ogg format) in Helsinki at the Finrosforum.