[JURIST] A court in Moscow on Friday upheld a ban on an international gay pride parade [program, PDF] scheduled to take place in the Russian capital on Saturday after gay activists appealed the decision [GayRussia.ru report] of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov [MosNews profile] rejecting the application of parade organizers. The mayor's office last week stated that the parade marking the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russia would likely provoke violence, but parade organizers have said they will disregard a ban and still hold the parade [Radio Free Europe report]. Additionally, Luzhkov said last fall that citizens of Moscow "would be categorically against such an initiative" [Radio Free Europe report].

Earlier, Russian Christian Muslim leaders had expressed dissatisfaction with the parade proposal. A Muslim cleric in February stated that the paraders should be "thrashed by decent people" [BBC report], and the head of the Muslim Spiritual Board in Central Russia, Talgat Tadzhuddin, stated that Muslim anti-pride protests could be worse than the recent worldwide protests over cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. MosNews has more.