Irina Shapitko and Irina Fedotova fell in love five years ago, but theirs has been a secret love. No kisses in public and not a word to their landlord. This is how it has to be in Moscow, these days, explained Irina Shapitko: "If he knew we were a couple," she said, "he could throw us out. As long as we don't advertise it, people close their eyes."

But now the women have come out publicly as homosexual. And it's likely to cause quite a stir in this quiet part of town.

They dream of having children and want public recognition: they tried to marry at the civil registry office. They were hoping to use a gap in the law: in the family code there is nothing explicitly forbidding homosexual marriage.

But they were told that there's also nothing allowing it, which was the start of a long battle. It's difficult to imagine equal rights in a country where every attempt to hold Gay Pride has been met with brutal arrests.

Every year for the last three years, the Mayor Yury Luzhkov of Moscow has banned the parade, explained Ruslan Zuyev, from Raduka, a network for the rights of sexual minorities.

"We haven't been able to make it a true festival," said Zuyev. "And to be frank, what do we have to celebrate? Gay Pride is a parade of pride. What can we be proud of? That people don’t understand us? That people hate us? That they beat us up?"

But this year might be different, because of the Eurovision Song Contest. Gay Pride organizers have chosen to hold their parade on the day of the Eurovision Final. The 5,000 foreigners who have flocked to the Russian capital for the contest have all been invited to take part, said Nikolai Alekseyev, from the Gay Russia organization.

“If even 500 people join us, neither the security forces, nor the riot police will be able to stop our demonstration," says Alekseyev. "I believe this is our one chance to bring down the barriers."

Militant and orthodox nationalists have told their supporters to oppose the parade, with force.

The vice-president of the Union of Orthodox Christian Youth, Dmitry Terekhov, considers that "they have taken Eurovision hostage".

"This Gay Pride is an act of spiritual terrorism aimed at destabilizing the country," says Terekhov. "This is a form of terrorism even more dangerous than when the Chechens took people hostage at the theatre or the school in Beslan."

With a wedding bouquet in their hands, both Irina's will take part in the parade. The civil office has refused to recognize their marriage, but they aren't too upset: they are flying off to Canada where a judge has agreed to marry them. Then they hope they can register their license in Russia.