A leading Russian gay activist said Wednesday that he was disappointed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with an outspoken foe of gay rights during her two-day trip and did not decry homophobia in the country.
Clinton attended a ceremony unveiling a statue of Walt Whitman at Moscow State University with officials including Mayor Yury Luzhkov. Luzhkov has blocked all attempts to hold gay pride marches in Moscow, once saying they “can be described in no other way than as satanic.”
Clinton did not mention the issue during the ceremony. Some biographers have described Whitman as homosexual, and U.S. gay activists have claimed him as symbol of their movement.
“Just as Pushkin and Whitman reset poetry we are resetting our relations for the 21st century,” Clinton said. A statue of poet Alexander Pushkin was erected at George Washington University, in Washington, in 2000.
It was not clear whether Luzhkov was aware of Whitman’s status as a gay icon, and sponsors of the statue said they were honoring Whitman strictly for his contributions to literature.
“Whitman transcended his sexuality in his art, and I would like to thank Mayor Luzhkov for welcoming him in his city and have absolutely nothing to say about those things,” said James Symington, a former four-time congressman for Missouri and representative of the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation.
Gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev said he was disappointed that Clinton did not discuss discrimination against gays.
“Russia is supposed to be a democracy, and she said nothing,” he said.
Alexeyev had called on Clinton to denounce what he called entrenched and degrading homophobic attitudes in Russia at a news conference Tuesday.
A State Department spokesman said the department was unaware of any request from Russia’s gay community.
Activists have taken the struggle to hold a gay pride parade to the European Court of Human Rights.
The statue of Walt Whitman was placed in the gardens of Moscow State University, where in May more than 30 gay activists were arrested for attempting to hold a pride march.
Whitman sculptor Alexander Bourganov remarked at a news conference Tuesday that the opening had been delayed and been politically difficult. He did not elaborate.
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