MOSCOW, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Gay men and women should be allowed to hold public marches in Russia, St. Petersburg's new ombudsman said Monday.
Alexey Kozyrev, a playwright, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 gives everyone the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.
"If you have the right, then why not stage a (gay rights) parade?" Kozyrev told RIA Novosti.
"Why would it be any different from any other public gathering?" he asked, noting Moscow, to its "own detriment," forbids such gatherings.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said he never will allow gay pride marches in Russia's capital while he is mayor.
Russian gay activists were arrested in May 2009 when they held a march after being denied a parade permit from the Moscow city council.
