Yury Luzhkov, Mayor Of Moscow, Calls Gay Parade "Satanic"

Yury Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow, told a conference on Monday that he would not allow a gay rights parade in the city and any unsanctioned efforts would face police power.

"A gay parade... cannot be called anything but a Satanic act," said Luzhkov at an education conference, according to reports from AFP. "We haven't permitted such a parade and we won't permit it in the future... It's high time that we stop propagating nonsense discussions about human rights, and bring to bear on them the full force and justice of the law."

Organizers have confirmed that they still plan on holding the parade on May 29 despite Luzhkov's objections.

"It's the same old medieval homophobic rhetoric," Gay Rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev told Reuters, adding that the Gay Rights movement were looking to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to support their position that a ban on the marches is illegal.

Luzhkov has become well known for his opposition to the gay rights movement in Moscow - having previously branded the parades "satanic" in 2007. The city's Orthodox Church and far right groups have also vowed to disrupt any parades.