Moscow city hall has rejected a request from gay activists to hold a protest that shares its name with the lullaby show broadcast on Russian television every night at 9:00 p.m., "Good Night, Little Ones!," GayRussia.ru said on its website.
The protest on Pushkinskaya Square was intended to mark the anniversary of a Constitutional Court decision upholding a regional law that bans "gay propaganda" among children.
Three activists - Nikolai Alekseev, Nikolai Bayev and Irina Fedotova - had filed a complaint with the court targeting a Ryazan Region law banning promotion of "sodomy" and "lesbianism" among minors.
The petitioners said Moscow rejected the request because the protest would be held at night, when all protest activity is banned. But that is why "we decided to attract attention to these absurd laws at night," when children are asleep, Alekseev said.
Notwithstanding the ban, Alekseev promised not to cancel the event on Pushkinskaya Square. He said that the popular characters from the children’s show - Khryusha, Stepashka, Filya and Karkusha - would be featured at the protest. He also said the group would appeal the rejection on the grounds that the prohibition of protests at night violates the Constitution.
Arkhangelsk Region already has a law banning promotion of homosexuality, and the legislatures in Saint Petersburg and Kostroma Region are considering similar laws.
