Hundreds March In Moscow Protesting European Human Rights Ruling That Gay Pride Parades Must Be Permitted, Hundreds Of Thousands Participant In Taiwan Gay Pride Parade, Conference In China Calls On Families To Support Gay Sons And Daughters, Gay-Positive Chicago Synagogue Targeted In Thwarted Mail Bomb Attack, Jacksonville Gays Pressure City To Add Sexual Orientation To Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

Saturday, over 1,000 anti-gay protestors assembled in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow, the demonstration organised by a number of Orthodox organisations meant to be a en masse disapproval of gay pride parades, the legalisation of same sex marriages, and the purported advancing of immoral propaganda, that according to a report from RiaNovosti.com. The rally arrives after a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that found Moscow’s ban on gay parades is illegal. Amid cries of “We don’t need gay parades,” Vladimir Khomyakov, the co-chair of the Narodny Sober (People’s Gathering) Orthodox organisation said “Despite the stories about our belligerent homophobia, we have never urged and are not urging to destroy gay clubs and attack gays. We have come to claim that the ECHR ruling is a gross interference in Russia’s domestic affairs and a violation of the Russian constitution and international law.”

A Taiwanese gay advocacy group, Taiwan LGBT Pride said Sunday that a gay right rally held Saturday through the streets of Taipei was the largest ever held in the country, Rex Shau, a spokesperson say “The rally was a big success as the turnout was bigger than we expected,” telling the AFP that at 30,000 has participated in the gay pride parade. Parade organisers say they hoped the event helped elevate gay and lesbian issues higher up on the political agenda in five cities ahead of mayoral elections to take place in less than a month, the results of which will be regarded as a mid-term test of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou. Said Shau “While we hoped the rally would raise awareness of gays and lesbians, the rally also aimed to vie for substantial support from the elections candidates. Some politicians just paid lip service, never taking real steps to adopt non-discrimination measures.” In 2003, Taiwan’s cabinet created a controversial bill to legalise same sex marriage, and to recognise the right of gay couples to adopt children, which if passed, would make Taiwan the first country in Asia to do so. However, years later, both measures have yet to pass, and gay activists regard the bill’s creation as a ploy to court voters.

Saturday and Sunday, over 200 gays and lesbians, accompanied by their parents gathered in a small conference room in a non-descript Beijing hotel room, there to call for families to accept and support gays, Xinhuanet.com reports.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a small, progressive synagogue in Edgewater which serves gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews was one of the targets of foiled mail bombs. Lilli Kornblum, the co-president of Or Chadash, a North Side congregation of about 100 members, said “We are somewhat alarmed and somewhat disturbed. We’re a very, very small, which is why we’re surprised we would draw anyone’s attention. We are taking it very seriously. But to be quite frank, for most of use it’s not that different than a regular day in terms of going about our security because we’re always on a heightened sense of alert.” No one is certain why Chicago area synagogues were targeted – there are reports that between two and four, including the Or Chadash, were the subjects of threats.

Jacksonville, Florida remains the only major metropolitan area in the state does not have a measure that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, and according to a report from the Associated Press, gay rights activists are meeting with business leaders to gather support for a proposed measure that would reverse that oversight and add sexual orientation and gender to the city’s current ordinance.