The Moscow City Court has reconfirmed its 100-year ban on gay pride events in the Russian capital, Russia Today reports.

The court today rejected an appeal by Nikolai Alekseyev, the leader of a Russian gay rights community and organizer of previous gay pride events.

The Interfax news agency quotes Alekseyev as saying his group will "contest the authorities action" in the near future.

The Russian government has been pushing a legal campaign against what it calls homosexual propaganda, RT reports.

St. Petersburg authorities this year passed a law banning the "promotion of homosexuality and pedophilia" -- and some members of parliament are pressing for a similar national law.

Two people were recently sentenced in St. Petersburg for displaying a poster reading 'Being gay is normal' on a street near a kindergarten, RT reports.