Irina Fedotova-Fet and Irina Shipitko said the Tverskoi District
Court upheld a decision by the city’s civil registry that said Russian law
defined marriage as between a woman and a man.
“We want recognition
of our relationship by society and the state. We are a family already, we live
together and share household chores,” Shipitko said. “We also would like to
have children. That is why we want legal recognition of our union.”
Nikolai Alexeyev, a
longtime Russian gay rights activist who is serving as the women’s lawyer, told
reporters that they plan to fight the ruling.
“We understand quite
well that it is a long road that must be taken before such unions will be
recognized. But I have no doubt this recognition will come,” he said.
The two women said
they planned to fly to Canada later this month to marry and then return to
Russia, in a bid to force authorities to recognize the marriage.
Homosexuality was
decriminalized in Russia in the 1990s, but many Russians are vehemently opposed
to expansion of gay rights or gay-rights demonstrations.