Gay rights activists will try to hold a gay pride parade in central Moscow on May 29, but they may have to resort to marching on the grounds of a foreign embassy.

The organizers have asked embassies of several countries, including European ones, to accommodate the parade in case City Hall refuses to authorize it, gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev told The Moscow Times on Wednesday.

The first choice for a venue will be announced at a news conference on May 27. At least 100 Russians, as well as two or three members of the European Parliament and a number of other European activists, are expected to participate in the parade.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov has called gay pride parades "satanic" and banned them in the past. Illegal rallies, held in the city center since 2006, have been routinely attacked by radical Orthodox believers and broken up by police.

The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule this year on City Hall's bans on gay parades in 2006, 2007 and 2008.