The Russian Orthodox Church is reeling after discovering one of its priests had performed a wedding ceremony for a gay couple, the first same-sex marriage in the country.
Denis Gogolev and Misha Morozov were married in a small chapel in he city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow.
They exchanging rings and in Orthodox style, wore crowns and circled the altar. At one point there was confusion for the priest, Father Vladimir who had to ask who was the husband and who was the wife.
Gogolev replied that they did not mind and both wished to be considered "spouses".
"Misha and I want to show that gays can and should live in Russia, and quite openly," Gogolev told reporters after the service.
Both the men are running for seats in the Russian Parliament in December's elections.
They say they are putting their hopes in the female vote.
"Women love and respect us," Gogolev said. "They even idolize us."
That sentiment does not extend as far as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. He has defrocked Father Vladimir and a church spokesperson said the priest could be excommunicated.
"The Russian Orthodox Church is against single-sex marriages and condemns homosexual relations as a deadly sin," the church press service said in a statement.
Homosexuality was a crime in Soviet times, but the law was repealed in 1993. A small group in the Russian parliament last year tried to reinstate the law in what they said was a campaign to restore traditional moral values.
Denis Gogolev and Misha Morozov were married in a small chapel in he city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow.
They exchanging rings and in Orthodox style, wore crowns and circled the altar. At one point there was confusion for the priest, Father Vladimir who had to ask who was the husband and who was the wife.
Gogolev replied that they did not mind and both wished to be considered "spouses".
"Misha and I want to show that gays can and should live in Russia, and quite openly," Gogolev told reporters after the service.
Both the men are running for seats in the Russian Parliament in December's elections.
They say they are putting their hopes in the female vote.
"Women love and respect us," Gogolev said. "They even idolize us."
That sentiment does not extend as far as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. He has defrocked Father Vladimir and a church spokesperson said the priest could be excommunicated.
"The Russian Orthodox Church is against single-sex marriages and condemns homosexual relations as a deadly sin," the church press service said in a statement.
Homosexuality was a crime in Soviet times, but the law was repealed in 1993. A small group in the Russian parliament last year tried to reinstate the law in what they said was a campaign to restore traditional moral values.
