Anti-Gay Law Used for 1st Time Against Protesters | The St. Petersburg Times | The leading English-language newspaper in St. Petersburg

ANTI-GAY LAW USED FOR 1ST TIME AGAINST PROTESTERS

Published: April 11, 2012 (Issue # 1703)


DMITRY LOVETSKY / AP

A rights activist holds a poster reading ‘In this library are books by gay and lesbian writers. Their works are part of world culture.’

St. Petersburg’s notorious anti-gay law was put into practice for the first time last week, when two men arrested Saturday during a demo near Oktyabrsky Concert Hall were charged with “promoting sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism among minors.”

Out of eight protesters, two were detained because the policemen found their posters to be illegal under the new law, in force since March 17. They were also charged with failing to obey a police officer’s lawful orders — an offense punishable by up to 15 days in prison.

Igor Kochetkov, chair of the LGBT rights group Vykhod (Coming Out), held a poster reading “No to hushing up hate crimes against gays and lesbians,” while Sergei Kondrashov’s placard read “Our family friend is a lesbian, my wife and I love and respect her. Her way of life is normal, just like ours, and her family is socially equal to ours.”

 

via Anti-Gay Law Used for 1st Time Against Protesters | The St. Petersburg Times | The leading English-language newspaper in St. Petersburg.

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