MOSCOW — Moscow officials rejected on Wednesday an application by gay rights advocates to hold a parade this month, saying the event could undermine a campaign to instill patriotic values in the city’s youths.

The refusal emphasized the Russian government’s support for a wave of legislation in cities across the country banning “homosexual propaganda.”

The Moscow decision was issued just days after a man was killed in a savage attack that investigators said was motivated by homophobia in the city of Volgograd in southern Russia.

“According to Russian legislation, we must work clearly and consistently on maintaining morality, oriented toward the teaching of patriotism in the growing generation, and not toward incomprehensible aspirations,” said Aleksei Mayorov, the director of regional safety for the city administration, in a statement carried by the Interfax news agency.