World Scene: Russia

Ruling against gay couple

A Moscow court yesterday ruled against two lesbians seeking to become Russia's first legally married gay couple.

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. Nikolai Alexeyev, a longtime Russian gay rights activist who is serving as the women's lawyer, said they plan to fight the ruling.