Authorities in Moscow arrested dozens
of gay rights activists on Saturday as they attempted to hold a Gay
Pride demonstration.
Sky
News reported that at least 30 activists were being held by
police after they defied a city order banning such protests.
The activists targeted Russia's lower
house of parliament, where lawmakers are considering a bill which
would criminalize “public actions aimed at propaganda of pederasty,
lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism among minors.” It also
seeks to ban public events which promote gay rights, such as Gay
Pride parades and gay rights demonstrations.
In attempting to unfurl banners
denouncing the Kremlin-backed anti-gay legislation, the protesters
were attacked by Orthodox Christian vigilantes carrying icons and
crosses.
Earlier this month, a 22-year-old man
from Volgograd was
allegedly tortured and killed after he came out gay to two male
friends he knew since childhood. And last week, priests in black
robes led an attack on a Gay Pride march in Georgia, sending 14
people to the hospital. While 4 men have been arrested, none of them
were identified as a member of the clergy.
(Related: 4
men held in mob attack on Georgia Gay Pride march.)