New Yorkers to Protest with Divest Moscow Message at Russian Officials’ Meeting

Queer Nation to Protest Russian Government  Financial Officials at NYC’s Princeton Club

dcrussia1dcrussia2New York, NY (October 24, 2013) — In the latest in a series of high-profile protests against the Russian government’s anti-gay laws, LGBT rights group Queer Nation will demonstrate outside a New York City meeting of Russian government officials.

The protest will take place on Monday, October 28, at 9:00 AM in front of the Princeton Club, at 15 West 43rd Street.

The meeting, “Invest in Moscow: Doing Business in Russia’s Capital,” will feature leading Moscow government officials, who will be promoting US investment in that city.

For the past eight years, Moscow has banned LGBT pride marches and demonstrations. This year, Moscow’s highest court barred such events for 100 years. When LGBT activists have defied the bans, Russian police have responded with violence and have allowed Russian nationalists and religious conservatives to attack LGBT activists with impunity.

The demonstration at the Princeton Club follows recent Queer Nation actions on October 10 at Carnegie Hall and during the Metropolitan Opera’s Opening Night Gala on September 23, where the direct action group confronted Valery Gergiev, a world renowned Russian conductor, and Anna Netrebko, a famous Russian soprano, over their silence on Russia’s anti-gay laws. Gergiev and Netrebko are vocal supporters of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.

Protesters inside Carnegie Hall and the Met delayed the start of performances at those venues while protesters outside held signs and a 60-foot rainbow flag banner that read “Support Russian Gays” to demand that the Russian government repeal its anti-gay laws.

Russia will host the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi next February. Moscow is the site of the Miss Universe pageant on November 9, 2013.

“Our message is don’t invest, divest,” said Andrew Miller, a member of Queer Nation, an LGBT rights group. “The smart investor money will steer clear of profiting in markets where citizens’ human rights are systematically abused. A country can’t simultaneously be gay-hostile and business-friendly.”

In June, the Russian government enacted legislation that effectively bans any pro-LGBT statement in public or private and on the Internet. In July, a law banning adoptions of Russian children by people from any jurisdiction that allows same sex marriage took effect.

Queer Nation is a direct action group dedicated to ending discrimination, violence and repression against the LGBT community. Website: www.queernationny.org. Twitter: @QueerNationNY. Facebook.com/qn.newyork.

We at OBLOGDEE have been calling for boycotts and divestment from Russia since the enactment of Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the anti-gay propaganda law.

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