Thursday, January 13, 2011

Same-sex marriages not allowed in Russia - Moscow registrar

Moscow, January 13, Interfax - Attempts by same-sex couples to marry both in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia are doomed to fail, Irina Muravyova said, head of the Moscow Registry Office.

"We live in a civil society, we are guided by the federal law, by the Constitution that clearly says: marriage in Russia is between a man and a woman," Muravyova said at a press conference on Thursday.

There are isolated cases when same-sex couples come to a registry office in order to apply for marriage, but that is pure self-promotion. "Normally, they arrive with the press already behind their shoulders," she said.

"Such a marriage [same-sex] cannot be contracted in Russia!" Muravyova said.

Muscovites are not trying to copy residents of certain countries "who enter into marriage with pets, Christmas trees and other animate and inanimate objects," she said

As for weddings, pets can attend the ceremony as guests: "Small cats and dogs in tuxedos, bow-ties, with a crown on the head," the Moscow registrar said.

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