COMING OUT APPEALS TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY VIOLATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE “PROPAGANDA” LAW November 20, 2013, "Coming Out" LGBT organization lodged its first complaint to the European Court of Human Rights against discrimination and violation of LGBT rights to freedom of assembly. Matter for complaint – refusal by the Government of St. Petersburg to permit demonstration against the federal “propaganda of homosexuality” law on December 19, 2012, at “Pioneer square” in St. Petersburg. In its decision to turn down Coming Out’s appeal, St. Petersburg City court referred to the “propaganda of homosexuality” law that the picket would hypothetically violate if it were to happen. The Court ruled that “the attempt of the organizers […] to distribute leaflets and other means of visual propaganda near the Theatre for Young Spectators, calling for tolerance towards gays and lesbians, other sexual minorities, and containing propaganda of raising children in same-sex couples, should be recognized as unadvisable because of its potential threat to the moral and spiritual development of children. […] the refusal does not violate rights of the applicant because it in fact prevented distribution […] of information capable of forming a distorted perception of social equality of traditional and non-traditional marital relations amongst persons who are due to their age unable to critically evaluate such information.” The last sentence is a direct quote of the definition of the “propaganda” from the “propaganda of homosexuality” law of St. Petersburg. After exhausting all national remedies, activists appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. "We were hoping for a solution to our problem at the national level and have exhausted all available remedies, hoping for a positive solution. European Court of Human Rights was our last resort"- says Kseniya Kirichenko, Coming Out’s lawyer. "Unfortunately, the right to freedom of assembly, guaranteed by the Russian Constitution and the international treaties, almost never applies to activities in support of LGBT rights. We are told that virtually any such picket is contrary to the interests of children. We ask the European Court to recognize the violation of the European Convention, and to oblige Russia to take general measures, including abolition of the law prohibiting the so-called "propaganda of homosexuality amongst minors”, and to pay compensation for moral damages.” Source: LGBT Organization "Coming Out", St. Petersburg