News
Gunmen open fire at Moscow gay nightclub
‘It’s getting scarier each day’


Two men with guns tried to gain entry into Central Station, a gay club in Moscow early on Nov. 16, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Sattarov Karimjon)
Two men early on Nov. 16 opened fire on a gay club in the Russian capital after security personnel refused to allow them to enter.
Arkady Gyngazov, who was managing Central Station in Moscow during the incident, told the Washington Blade during a Skype interview from the Russian capital on Monday the men tried to enter the club around 5 a.m., but were turned away because they were “aggressive.” He said they returned with guns a short time later and started shooting.
Gyngazov told the Blade he was not at the club when the shooting happened, but he estimated 500 people were inside during the incident.
He said the men destroyed Central Station’s surveillance camera and left bullet holes on the building’s facade. Gyngazov told the Blade nobody was injured because patrons were not arriving or exiting the establishment during the incident.
“That’s why they didn’t kill anybody,” Gyngazov told the Blade.
The incident took place a week after gay MSNBC host Thomas Roberts co-hosted the annual Miss Universe pageant that took place in Moscow. The shooting also occurred against the backdrop of ongoing outrage over the Kremlin’s LGBT rights record that threatens to overshadow the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia, in February.
President Vladimir Putin in June signed a vaguely worded law that bans gay propaganda to minors. A second statute that prohibits foreign same-sex couples and any couple from a country in which gays and lesbians can legally marry from adopting Russian children took effect in July.
A 2012 law requires LGBT groups and non-governmental organizations that receive funding from outside Russia to register as a “foreign agent.”
Activists maintain the widely publicized deaths of two men in Volgograd and on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East earlier this year underscore the fact that anti-LGBT violence remains a pervasive problem in the country.
Members of the Russian HIV/AIDS service organization LaSky earlier this month were attacked with air guns and baseball bats during an event at the group’s St. Petersburg office. The two men who attacked Dutch diplomat Onno Elderenbosch inside his Moscow apartment on Oct. 15 drew a heart with an arrow through it and the LGBT acronym in lipstick on a mirror in his home.
LGBT activists and their opponents clashed in St. Petersburg during an Oct. 12 gay rights rally. The city’s police in June arrested more 40 LGBT rights advocates during a similar event.
Authorities in May arrested 30 gay activists who tried to stage a Pride celebration outside Moscow City Hall. Officials in Murmansk nearly two months later detained Kris van der Veen and three other Dutch LGBT rights advocates for violating the country’s gay propaganda law while they were filming a documentary on Russian gay life.
‘Gay club here’ sign placed above Central Station
Gyngazov did not confirm media reports that indicate a Kremlin-controlled railroad company owns the building in which Central Station is located. He said its owners last month placed a large neon sign above the club’s entrance that reads “gay club here” and contains arrows pointing toward the door.
“I’m sure [the attack] is connected to the situation here in Russia with gays and with the advertisement that the owners of the building put in big letters on the building,” Gyngazov told the Blade. “It’s not allowed in Russia because of the law and the aggressive people, homophobes. They have to know that it’s a gay club and it’s dangerous for our clients.”
Gyngazov said patrons have been attacked outside Central Station since he began working at the club in 2010, but nobody had previously opened fire on the building. He told the Blade the police promised to investigate the shooting.
“I’m not sure because when it’s about gays, usually they don’t want to do anything,” Gyngazov said. “Police doesn’t work here, especially if you’re [gay.]”
Gyngazov said he quit his job after the shooting because he is afraid.
“I decided to leave it because it’s getting more dangerous,” Gyngazov told the Blade.
The Associated Press on Monday reported Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, told the Russian newspaper RBK that lawmakers should have waited until after the Olympics to pass the country’s gay propaganda law. This statement comes on the heels of reassurances from Putin that gays and lesbians will not experience discrimination during the games, even though Mutko and other Russian officials said authorities plan to enforce the gay propaganda law in Sochi.
Gyngazov, who volunteers for Spectrum Human Rights, which monitors the Kremlin’s gay rights record, became visibly scared as he discussed the future of LGBT Russians after the Sochi games.
“It’s getting scarier each day,” he said.
Australia
Australian prime minister re-elected
Anthony Albanese marched in 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday won re-election.
Albanese’s Labor Party defeated the Liberal Party that Peter Dutton led.
Dutton, who lost his seat in parliament, quickly conceded to Albanese, who is the first Australian prime minister to win re-election in 21 years. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, a lesbian who represents South Australia in the Australian Senate, on Saturday introduced Albanese at his victory party.
“Today the Australian people have voted for Australian values; for fairness, aspiration, and opportunity for all, for the strength to show courage in adversity, and kindness to those in need,” said Albanese. “Australians have voted for a future that holds true to these values.”
(9News Australia)
Albanese has been prime minister since 2022. In 2023 he became the first Australian prime minister to march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Voters re-elected Albanese less than a week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal Party won the country’s federal election. The Trump-Vance administration’s global tariffs are among the issues that factored into both country’s votes.
“Congratulations to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his victory in Australia’s federal election,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X. “Australia is a valued U.S. friend and a close partner.”
“We look forward to continuing to promote freedom and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” he added.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours

D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
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