Gay pride march attacked

last updated 8 January 2015

Moscow

Activists who defied a ban on a gay pride march were attacked by ultranationalists in Moscow last week. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov had banned the march, saying the Russian “way of life, our morals, and our tradition” did not allow for the “mad licentiousness” of homosexuality. When several hundred gay activists showed up anyway, a group of Orthodox Christian demonstrators pelted them with eggs and tomatoes. Things turned even uglier when the marchers approached a czarist-era monument that faces City Hall. Throngs of ultranationalists and neo-fascists were waiting at the monument, shouting that gays should be deported to labor camps. Several people, including a gay German lawmaker, were injured in the ensuing scuffle. About 100 gay activists were arrested, as were a handful of ultranationalists.