Monday, May 28, 2007

Moscow gay pride march turns bloody, again

Peter Tatchel, the British gay activist who we met during our trip to London in February, was among those beaten by homophobic thugs and Russian Orthodox church members this weekend during an attempted march to protest the Moscow government's annual ban of a gay pride parade.

Here's some graphic footage of Peter and others being beaten and kicked. The police drag Peter and the other protesters away but leave the attackers free to give media interviews. Nearly all of those arrested were gay protesters.

The guy with the shaved head and black t-shirt is Richard Fairbass, lead singer of the British pop group Right Said Fred. Peter is the guy in the blue shirt who gets popped in the eye while doing an interview with reporters.

Rex's report on the protest is here.

I wonder if this is what President Bush has in mind when he talks about democracy building? Imagine what Dubya might say to his authoritarian buddy Vladimir Putin about these attacks: "Way to go Vlady."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This past Sunday, I was at a birthday party for my 2-year-old twin nieces. The extended family was there, a big crowd. Right in front of everyone, I dropped a paper cup filled with Sprite. What a mess! And we all know who was ultimately to blame for it: President Bush.