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News Article: Gay Magazine Deprived of License

"Forum Lambda magazine - the only gay periodical [licensed by] the State Committee for Press - was denied a registration certificate. The letter, received by the editorial board from the State Committee, reads that the magazine had been registered as popular, scientific and culture-oriented, but it has been issued as erotic for over a year now."

"On September 17, 2000, the State Committee for Press already reprimanded the newspaper under the same definition. Then the edition was offered to pass re-registration."

"At the moment Forum Lambda intends to petition the Supreme Economic Court of Belarus in order to argue against the State Committee's verdict."

"Forum Lambda was founded back in August 1998 as a bulletin of sexual minorities under the name "Belarusian League for freedom of sexual minorities Lambda."

Source: Charter 97, March 26, 2001.

News Article: Orthodox Church-Related Groups Demonstrate in Minsk against Gay Festival

"About a dozen members of Orthodox Church-related groups demonstrated in Minsk on September 9 [2000] against the Gay Pride 2000 festival that gays and lesbians have attempted to hold in the Belarusian capital."

"The protesters gathered near the Academy of Sciences, but the police soon persuaded them to leave. They marched along Skaryna Avenue, Minsk's main street, all the way to Victory Square, carrying placards "No to Sodom and Gomorrah!", "Gays and Lesbians Go See a Doctor! You are Sick!" and the like. Authorities made no attempts to stop them."

"The demonstrators told a BelaPAN correspondent that they represented the Orthodox newspaper Voskreseniye, the Brotherhood of Orthodox Physicians, the St. Paul and St. Peter Church Brotherhood, and some other groups. One of them, who said he headed an Organization for Assistance to Victims of Psychological Aggression, stressed that they were not against homosexuals but against gay propaganda in Minsk in connection with the festival."

"In any case, Gay Pride organizers have little luck getting on with their plans. They wanted to begin on September 7 with a show in one of Minsk's dancing clubs but were thrown out by the club management. A parade they planned to stage on September 10 has been banned by the city government. Two FM stations have refused to provide news coverage of the festival, referring to an order from the Presidential Administration."

Source: BelaPAN, No. 39; Saturday, September 9, 2000; 8:40 p.m.

News Article: Gay Pride-2000 Organizers Encountered Difficulties Preparing the Festival

"The organizers of the Gay Pride-2000 festival in Minsk have encountered difficulties preparing the event scheduled for September 7 to 10."

"Edvard Tarletsky, head of the organizing committee, told BelaPAN that Radio BA had gone back on its promise to provide information support for the festival and grant its dancehall for night events."

"Radio BA Director Irina Yuzvak said that her radio station had received an order from the Presidential Administration not to cover the event, Mr. Tarletsky said."

"Olga Alvorado, a representative of another FM station, Alpha Radio, refused to provide information support for the festival on the same grounds, Mr. Tarletsky said."

"The organizers received a last-minute refusal from Viktor Parfyonok, director of the Minsk-based Nova gallery, to grant a hall for an exhibition of photographs and drawings by Olga Varenikova and Yelena Adamchik. Mr. Parfyonok said that the exhibition could damage the gallery's reputation. The Minsk government has not yet given its permission for a gay and lesbian parade in Minsk on September 10, Mr. Tarletsky said."

"However, he noted, news conferences, seminars and discussions within the framework of the festival will go ahead as planned. Concerts titled "Belarusian and European Stars to Gays and Lesbians" are to take place at Minsk's night clubs Reactor and Aquarium. Artists from Belarus, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine are expected to perform. Fashion shows will be staged by Belarusian and Russian designers."

Source: BelaPAN, No. 17; Tuesday, September 5, 2000; 4:00 p.m.

News Article: Anti-Gays Organize in Belarus

"An anti-gay conference in Minsk, Belarus, entitled The Pernicious Consequences of International Projects of Sexual Education was attended by numerous government officials March 11-12 [1999]. Organized by the nation's Russian Orthodox Church . . . the confab attracted, among others, the chairman of the Constitutional Court and the health minister."

"According to local gay activists, 'The participants of the conference condemned the practice of using condoms and of making abortions which were regarded as 'satanic influences.' Among the 'authors' of the 'pernicious' projects of sexual education [are] the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and the UN.' "

"Gays and lesbians were declared to be 'perverts and criminals,' activists reported, and one priest called for all homosexuals to 'be executed in the electric chair.' "

Source: GayStLouis.com, International News #257 - March 29, 1999

News Article: Gays and Lesbians to Stage a Festival in Minsk

"Gay Pride Belarus '99, the country's first festival of gays and lesbians, will be held in Minsk from September 9 to 12 [1999]. The festival was organized by the Belarusian League for the Freedom of Sexual Minorities, Lambda, and the magazine, Forum Lambda."

"Concerts featuring performers from Belarus, Sweden, and Ukraine will take place every night at the Titanic dancing club. A beauty contest among transvestites, Transmission '99, will be staged at Titanic on September 10 and 11."

"According to the organizers, the jury will include variety performer Inna Afanasyeva, human rights activist Lyubov Lunyova, actress Zoya Belokhvostik, rock singer Kasya Kamotskaya, and Irina Khalip, chief editor of the newspaper Imya."

"Movie showings, seminars, and conferences will be organized with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), and the Abyadnany Shlyakh (United Path) organization."

"One of the seminars, that on gay culture and human rights, will be held at the office of the Association of Moviemakers instead of the University of Culture, although it has been sanctioned by the rector, Yadviga Grigorovich. According to Lambda leader Eduard Tarletsky, the prospect of a seminar of the sort being held at their university has provoked protests on the part of the faculty."

Source: BelaPAN, No. 38; Wednesday, September 8, 1999; 7:50 p.m.

News Article: Preparations Underway for Gay Parade Belarus

"Forum Lambda, the magazine of Belarusian gays and lesbians, has announced the beginning of preparations for Gay Parade Belarus scheduled to take place in Minsk from September 9 to 12."

"The program of the festival includes a seminar for journalists on the theme, 'Lesbians and Gays in the Media,' a conference on the rights of gays and lesbians in Belarus and the world, a show of photographs and films made by homosexuals and about them, the celebration of Forum Lambda's anniversary, and the Mister Gay Belarus competition."

Source: BelaPAN, No. 46; Thursday, August 12, 1999; 1:40 p.m.