Moscow  - Despite international protests, Moscow Mayor Yuri Lushkov has forbidden all future gay rights demonstrations as "homosexual propaganda."

"Of course all democrats in the world will criticize us, but every society has its own point of view," Lushkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying at a conference on the problems of HIV and AIDS in the former Soviet Union.

Moscow will prevent "homosexual propaganda even if some provincial democrats think that that association with sexual minorities are an important indicator of democracy," said Lushkov, who blamed homosexuals for the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The city has banned gay and lesbian parades in the past.

Gay rights groups have filed a complaint against the city of Moscow to the European Court of Human Rights. (dpa)