Russian Gay Rights Leader Detained in St. Petersburg

© RIA Novosti . Ilya Pitalev / Go to the mediabankA leader of the Russian LGBT movement Nikolai Alekseyev
A leader of the Russian LGBT movement Nikolai Alekseyev - Sputnik International
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A leader of the Russian LGBT movement, Nikolai Alekseyev, has been detained in a one-man picket in St. Petersburg protesting against a new local law that bans "gay propaganda" among minors, GayRussia.ru website reported on Thursday.

A leader of the Russian LGBT movement, Nikolai Alekseyev, has been detained in a one-man picket in St. Petersburg protesting against a new local law that bans "gay propaganda" among minors, GayRussia.ru website reported on Thursday.

Police detained Alekseyev after he unfolded a poster near the building of the municipal administration of Russia’s second largest city. The poster read "Homosexuality is not perversion. Perversion is field hockey and ballet on ice."

Last month St. Petersburg’s Governor Georgy Poltavchenko approved a law penalizing "the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors." The law effectively outlaws any Gay Pride events.

GayRussia.ru announced on Wednesday that Alekseyev is set to hold his one-man protest near the St. Petersburg administration building indefinitely and will resume it with a new poster after each time he is detained and released.

The law, which came into force in March, caused a divided reaction among Russians, where anti-gay sentiment remains strong. Russian LGBT groups have requested support in the West against the law that made the "promotion of homosexuality" an administrative offense. The influential Russian Orthodox Church has backed the law.

Alekseyev’s detention follows the arrests of two more gay activists in St. Petersburg last week for picketing against the gay propaganda ban. They were later released after police compiled a report of the administrative offense.

 

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