Russia police break up gay protest

Nation and World News - Russia Police Break Up Gay Protest

The plainclothes security men came first, clustering in jeans, leather jackets and pointy black shoes. Then the policemen in gray uniforms and stiff hats; bulky men in dark suits who appeared to be in charge; a bus of riot police in camouflage.

By Megan K. Stack



Los Angeles Times

ANDREY STENIN / AP


MOSCOW — The plainclothes security men came first, clustering in jeans, leather jackets and pointy black shoes. Then the policemen in gray uniforms and stiff hats; bulky men in dark suits who appeared to be in charge; a bus of riot police in camouflage.

A raw wind swept off the Moscow River on Saturday morning, past the souvenir peddlers with their tables of bright wooden "matryoshka" dolls and T-shirts emblazoned with Soviet iconography. The sky was low and dark over Sparrow Hills, a popular backdrop for wedding photos; a place for limousines, brides and Champagne.

The crowd of plainclothes security grew, and tension thickened as noon drew closer. One of the security men laughed rudely, pushing at a colleague. "They are not even here yet and Max is already flirting with me," he joked. "Take him away from me, guys."

Nearby, a stocky policeman held his portable radio, listening to scratchy commands from above.

"Get all of them!" the unseen supervisor barked.

"Yes," the policeman said. "But how do we know who's gay?"

They were girding their force and setting their traps to sweep down on what the city authorities repeatedly have described as a "threat": the attempt by dozens of gay-rights activists to hold a march in the Russian capital. Yuri Luzhkov, the Kremlin-backed mayor of Moscow, describes gay marches as "satanic."

And yet Russia's gay and lesbian community was determined to stage a march this weekend. Moscow was host city to the final round of the Eurovision song competition, a campy and wildly popular show perhaps best known for launching the career of the band ABBA. Activists hoped to capitalize on the event to draw attention to the sorry state of gay rights in today's Russia.

Most of them never made it — they stayed away out of fear, or were pounced upon and hauled off before they reached Sparrow Hills. Shortly after noon, about a dozen activists stood on the nearby lawn of thick grass and blossoming lilac bushes and began to shout slogans.

"Homophobia is a shame!" they chanted. The demonstration lasted for about a minute before the police set upon them from all sides, clambering through the shrubs and knocking cameramen out of the way to seize the demonstrators, pin their arms behind their backs and drag them off into waiting buses and wagons.

They knew it would be a struggle. The city government repeatedly has denied their permit requests. Police in the past have stood aside while ultranationalist skinheads beat gay activists bloody — then arrested the activists, not the skinheads. (Skinheads, unlike gays, have been permitted to march in Moscow in recent years.)

This year, the government seemed particularly incensed. Eurovision should have been a proud moment for the Russian authorities, a celebration badly needed after bitter clashes with Europe over the war in Georgia and natural gas shut-offs.

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"The Moscow government is declaring that no gay parades have been or will be held in Moscow," Sergei Tsoi, spokesman for the Moscow mayor, told journalists last week.

Gay activists threaten "not only to destroy the moral pillars of our society but also to deliberately provoke disorder, Tsoi added.

A few minutes after the first demonstration was broken up Saturday, a second group of activists arrived and began to march along behind a banner reading "Equal rights without compromise." They, too, were pounced on immediately by police, who snatched away the banner and hauled the men off to waiting buses.

A man in a wedding dress arrived, only to be shoved kicking and screaming into the bus. After that, the scene melted into a sort of free-for-all, as frustrated police hauled away anybody who gave interviews to reporters.

"It's a shock," a gay-rights activist named Ksenia Prilepskaya said, watching police circle through a crowd of journalists and a few remaining protesters. "It's against Russian law. It's direct violence against us."

As she spoke, police noticed Prilepskaya and lunged, wrestling her toward the bus as she screamed and squirmed. Her glasses were knocked to the mud and trampled underfoot; her purse lost. Her clothes had been shredded from her body by the time she was forced to the steps of the bus; police drove her inside stripped down to her bra.

"Scoundrels!" somebody yelled.

That was the end of it. There was no march. The vendors kept on hawking souvenirs. A bride and a groom arrived, stared in bewilderment at the police, then shrugged and headed for the parapet to pose for the cameras, cheering wedding party at their heels.





News Europe
Russian police break up gay march
More than 20 protesters were detained by
police at a university in Moscow [Reuters]

Police in Russia have broken up a march by gay-rights activists in Moscow hours before the Eurovision Song Contest final.

At least 30 campaigners had gathered near a university and were later arrested by riot police for taking part in the demonstration condemning the treatment of gays and lesbians in Russia.

The group, which included Peter Tatchell, British gay rights activist, were dragged away by police when they waved flags and chanted slogans demanding equal rights, including: "Homophobia is a disgrace of this country!"

As he was being taken away by police, Tatchell said: "This shows the Russian people are not free."

Among those detained was Nikolai Alexeyev, a Russian gay rights leader.

Police said they were arresting him for walking with a transvestite.

Earlier on Saturday, a counter-demonstration by nationalist and religious groups was allowed to be held.

Hard stand

Yuri Luzhkov, the Moscow mayor, has taken a hard stand against homosexual protesters, once describing gay parades as "satanic".

Alexeyev told Al Jazeera: "We are not just going to surrender because the Moscow mayor who is breaching the law of the constitution and the European convention is deciding this alone and taking full responsibility for what is going on."

Alexeyev, a Russian gay rights leader, was among those detained in Moscow [AFP]

Europe's most prestigious pop music contest has drawn attention to gay rights in Russia, with some singers threatening to boycott the event if the gay pride parade was not allowed to happen.

In previous years there have been many attacks on members of the gay community during similar attempts to hold demonstrations.

Al Jazeera's Neave Barker, reporting from Moscow said: "With forty-two million dollars spent on the stage alone, this is the grandest Eurovision ever.

"The winner is even expected to be announced by the crew on board the International Space Station.

"And while dubbed the most ostentatious Eurovision yet, the event is also likely to go down in history as the most politically charged."