Moscow pride.

Nikolai Alekseev, 28, organizer of Moscow's first-ever gay pride parade and festival, is moving forward with plans for the May 24-28 event despite opposition from Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who said he would not grant a permit for the parade. Both Muslim and Russian Orthodox religious leaders have also spoken out against the event.

Will you still hold the parade if you don't get the permit?

The right to peaceful demonstration is granted by the constitution. We can go to court if the permit is not granted. If the court denies it, then we can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. But I don't think we will have to go that far. Them is strong support from foreign politicians and activists who have planned to come to our event, and I do not think in the year when Russia hosts the G8 summit and the Council of Europe that the mayor would allow such a scandal.

Are you worried that Muslims will rally behind mufti Talgat Tajuddin in his call for violence against parade participants?

I believe his words haw been said to promote himself in the media ... but that doesn't excuse the violence of such statements. We have called the general prosecutor to open a criminal investigation for breaching article 282 of the Criminal Code, which covers hatred toward a social group.

Have Russia's attitudes about homosexuality improved since Soviet laws forbidding gay sex were abolished in 1993?

A little bit. Them am morn meeting places such as bars and clubs. Also, these places are safer and less disturbed by the police. In general, the situation is better in Moscow and St. Petersburg.