Violence Erupts between Police and Gay Demonstrators in Moscow
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| Gay Demonstrator is arrested by Moscow Police after beating |
Several ex-paratroopers tried to disrupt the protest and attack the gay activists
St.Petersburg police detained gay activists on Sunday (August 2) as they tried to stage an unsanctioned protest.
A handful of protesters - some holding rainbow flags, others posters in support of gay rights - gathered on the city's central Palace square in the early afternoon.
The protest organiser - Yuri Gavrikov - didn't make it there, he was detained by the police as he was leaving his house.
A female activist was taken to a police van minutes after she unfolded a rainbow flag. Later a young man was detained as well.
The campaigners protested against repeated denials by the city authorities to hold gay pride in St.Petersburg.
Several ex-paratroopers who were celebrating the Russian Airborne Troops Day on the Palace square tried to disrupt the protest and attack gay activists.
"We will beat up all these gays, we will beat them up, we are airborne troops, we are from the 76th Air Assault Brigade," said a tipsy ex-paratrooper standing meters away from a gay activist holding poster reading "Freedom to Yuri Gavrikov".
"I am a human being and I want to be respected. I have my own pride and that's why I am standing here now," said Alexei Nazarov, a St.Petersburg gay activist after police pushed away another paratrooper who tried to attack him and shouted insults.
"I am proud of who I am and I am worried about the person who was detained today," Nazarov added.
Later another gay activist arrived at the Palace square and unfolded a poster blaming the city administration for repeated denials to hold gay pride in St.Petersburg: "Three denials by Smolny is lawlessness and discrimination of the Russian citizens".
Ex-paratroopers tried to attack him as well, but were held back by the police. According to the city authorities three gay activists have been detained on Sunday at the Palace square.
St.Petersburg administration blocked the request for the third time - a repeated ritual that has come to symbolize Russian authorities' hostility to public expressions of support for gay rights.
A 2013 law against gay "propaganda" sparked an outcry among Russian rights activists and in the West. But partly reflecting the influence of the Orthodox church, many Russians back the law or have negative feelings toward gays.
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