Gay-rights activists clash with foes in Moscow, 15 detained
Source: AP
MOSCOW (AP) — Police in the Russian capital have detained 15 people after a clash broke out between gay-rights advocates and opponents.
A small group of activists tried to hold an unauthorized demonstration in support of gay rights outside the mayor's office on Saturday. But opponents fought with them and police detained people from both sides.
There was no immediate word on whether any of those detained would be charged, the Interfax news agency reported.
Animosity toward homosexuals is high in Russia. Authorities routinely deny permission to hold gay-rights demonstrations on the grounds of maintaining public order and avoiding violence.
Russian anti-gay demonstrators attack a quad bike driven by gay rights activists as police detain gay rights activists during an attempt to hold a gay demonstration in central Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 30, 2015. Such meetings, not permitted by the Moscow city authorities, are marked by police interference and resulting detention several activists of the movement. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
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Gay rights activists drive an all-terrain vehicle down Tverskaya Street in central Moscow.
The campaigners had requested permission to hold a gay pride parade today, but Moscow authorities blocked the request for the 10th year in a row — an annual ritual that has come to symbolize Russian authorities' hostility to public expressions of support for gay rights. Demonstrators were able to unfurl a rainbow flag — reading "Make love not war" — but they were also attacked by an anti-gay group before riot police ripped the flag away.
A 2013 law against gay "propaganda" also 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 towards gays.
"It is lawlessness of Moscow's and Russian authorities — what is happening here is a complete lawlessness," said Nikolai Alexeyev, a leading Russian gay rights activist, as he was dragged into a police van with a bleeding hand. "We are just trying to hold a peaceful human rights action."
Reuters witnesses saw some of the anti-gay activists attack peaceful gay activists before they were separated by police. Elena Kakhtaryova, an anti-gay activist, was standing peacefully with a placard that read: "No to euro gay values. No to a euro gay way of development. Only Russia and only victory."
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/police-break-up-unsanctioned-lgbt-rally-in-central-moscow/522719.html
