In any society, conflict situations are periodically brewing, when the self-expression of some representatives of society comes into conflict with the moral values of others. A very difficult situation arises. Disputes about the holding of a gay pride parade in St. Petersburg have been going on for more than one year, while each of the opposing sides considers itself to be right.
Representatives of sexual minorities have been asking the authorities of St. Petersburg for several years to allow the march in the city, indicating that this will be an action to draw attention to the situation of discrimination against same-sex families. In the summer of 2012, permission seemed to have been received, but later still withdrawn by the committee on legality. An attempt to hold a rally against the city's law banning the propaganda of pedophilia and homosexuality among minors resulted in clashes with neo-Nazis, and as a result, the rally lasted only a few minutes.
The question of whether a full-fledged gay parade will be held in St. Petersburg remains open. However, it can be assumed that in Russia, a country with centuries-old Christian traditions, such processions for a very long time will not be able to receive not only approval, but even simply tolerant attitude from the population. As a result, the authorities find themselves in a difficult situation: the principles of human rights observance seem to oblige to listen to the demands of sex minorities and allow them to hold peaceful processions. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of the population considers such events unacceptable, since they corrupt young people, destroy the centuries-old family foundations. The Church is also on the side of the majority, taking a completely clear, irreconcilable position on this issue.
There is no way out of this situation yet and it looks like there will be no way out in the near future. The appeals of representatives of sexual minorities to foreign human rights organizations also do not lead to anything, and they cannot lead to anything - no matter how much pressure Western human rights activists put on the Russian authorities, the country's leadership will never go against the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the country's population and the position of the Church. If a gay parade takes place once, it will have to take place under a tight police cut-off, since clashes with opponents of such marches are inevitable.
