Russia Blocks Gay Marriage
The Moscow city government on Tuesday blocked an attempt by two lesbians to get married, as Russia's gay activists stepped up efforts to draw attention to homophobia ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest.Irina Fedotova and Irina Chapitko tried to marry at a register office in central Moscow but were told that Russian law only permitted heterosexual marriage."We cannot accept your request," Svetlana Potamyshneva, head of the register office, told the couple in the presence of journalists and television crews who had been invited by gay activists to cover the event.