Police arrested gay activist Nikolai Alekseyev, the driving force behind the march, and a handful of homosexual activists as they attempted to lay flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- a symbol of Russia’s victory against fascism in World War II -- outside the Kremlin walls. In all, about 40 people participated in the action.
But police closed the gates to the park and a group of Russian Orthodox protesters and shave-headed nationalists charged into the activists as they arrived, punching and kicking them and shouting homophobic slogans such as "death to pederasts!"
A few people were injured in the clash, including a member of Germany's Bundestag, Volker Beck, who was beaten up by a group of nationalist youths as he was giving a television interview.
Gay-rights activists were then planning to gather outside Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov’s office.
"We are conducting a peaceful action," Alekseyev told a press conference shortly before the rally. "We want to show that we have the same rights as other citizens."
The city issued an order prohibiting the parade, and that decision was upheld by a district court yesterday.
The AP quoted Luzhkov as saying during a radio interview on May 26 that gay-pride parades "may be acceptable for some kind of progressive, in some sense, countries in the West, but it is absolutely unacceptable for Moscow, for Russia."
"As long as I am mayor, we will not permit these parades to be conducted," Luzhkov said.
Parade organizer Nikolai Alekseyev (courtesy photo)