(St. Petersburg, Russia) Russian gays are considering legal action against St. Petersburg city officials after two locations where an LGBT film festival was held were suddenly told they did not meet fire code regulations. Two other venues cancelled their involvement earlier, reportedly after receiving threats from authorities.

Neither club is gay. Both are popular with students and artists.

Two movie houses, the state run Cinema House and the privately owned PIK, earlier cancelled.  Side by Side organizer Irina Sergeyeva said authorities were doing all in their power to block the festival.

Sergeyeva said the festival had been moved to the two clubs after the movie houses cancelled.

“It was virtually the same situation at Pik; after the contract was signed and tickets went on sale, in a week’s time the contract was terminated ‘for technical reasons,’ but there was information in Moi Rayon newspaper that it was done under the pressure from the city and district administrations,” Sergeyeva told the English language St. Petersburg Times.

Although LGBT film festivals have been held in St. Petersburg in the past, this was the first one that was to have been open to the general public.

Side by Side organizers could file legal complaints against the city, but they would be unlikely to succeed.

In Moscow, gays have been sparring with Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov for several years over his refusal to grant permits for gay pride celebrations.

Despite Luzhkov’s refusal to grant a parade permit, the third Moscow Pride took place on Sunday, June 1. Gay activists picketed the monument to the Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky and then hung a huge banner from an apartment in front of Moscow City Hall.

The banner read: “Rights to gays and lesbians! Homophobia of Moscow Mayor should be prosecuted.”
Last year, the mayor refused a parade license, citing security concerns. Gays, many of them from the European Union,  marched anyway. About 20 people were arrested at the May 27 parade, including Alexeyev, two European parliamentarians and British gay advocate Peter Tatchell.

Charges against the foreigners were later dropped and Alexeyev was fined $1,000 rubles – about $40.

Lawsuits against the city failed and pride organizers have taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights.

Last year, in another case against the mayor, a Moscow court tossed out a lawsuit accusing Lushkov of libel over claims he made that gay rights marches were “satanic.”

The court ruled that Moscow Pride leaders had failed to prove that the remarks were incendiary or intended to vilify gays in general.

In January, a Moscow judge acquitted 13 gay activists arrested for staging a protest outside a polling station during national elections.