Conservative Pride

On July 8, a parade celebrating family values took place in Moscow.

According to Doxa – a publication denounced as “undesirable” in Russia – the event was held at VDNKh. The organizers positioned it as an alternative to LGBT pride parades, which they consider immoral. The family parade’s website, states that one of the organizations goals is “Russia’s resistance to the collective West, which promotes anti-family policies and gender ideology to society.”

The march was timed to coincide with "Family Day," a day commemorating the Orthodox saints Peter and Fevronia, who were husband and wife. However, the day plays no meaningful role in either the church or the secular calendar, and there is no tradition of celebrating it. July 8 was first designated as Family Day in 2008 in the ancient city of Murom, which is considered the birthplace of Peter and Fevronia. Further, Murom was celebrating its 1100th anniversary at the time; the event was of local significance and was intended to create a distinctive image of the city to boost tourist interest.

And yet, in 2022 the President of the Russian Federation issued a decree designating July 8 as Family Day throughout the country. The following year, a “family parade” began to be held on the day. Among the event’s organizers and partners are far-right, Orthodox, and pro-life organizations. It is supported by public figures linked to the state and the conservative agenda – for example, Boris Korchevnikov, CEO of the Orthodox TV channel “Spas” and famous host of the state TV; Natalya Moskvitina, president of the anti-abortion foundation “Women for Life”; and Senator Margarita Pavlova, who previously called for an end of “encouraging young women to pursue higher education,” as apparently this leads to a decline in the birth rate. 

Pro-family marchers processed in a column through the VDNKh grounds carrying flags of the “Healthy Fatherland” movement, the “Russian Cross” foundation, and the far-right “Sorok Sorokov” movement, the latter being Orthodox fundamentalists close to Patriarch Kirill. Parade participants also carried portraits of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II. The march concluded with a concert, during which host Anna Shafran declared that “Russia has become a leader in the defense of spiritual values,” while Andrei Kormukhin, head of the “Sorok Sorokov,” called on people to “sacrifice their lives for the sake of their loved ones.”

The parade’s organizers are promoting it as a nationwide event; their website states that marches are taking place in hundreds of cities and that thousands of Russians are participating. However, no independent information could be found about any significant regional events, and even in Moscow – a city of millions – as the publication Sota reports, only about 500 people gathered for the parade.