11.06 Moscow Protest Over
MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) Protests outside the Russian parliament building turned violent on Tuesday as clashes broke out between activists for and against two proposed bills one restricting the "promotion" of homosexuality, the other to protect religious believers feelings.
About 300 people gathered in unauthorized protests about these bills outside the State Duma. The numbers of people mobilized on each side indicates how split Russian society is over these issues.
A RIA Novosti reporter at the scene witnessed how the demonstration started peacefully, with a police cordon separating anti-bill LGBT activists from those backing the bill.
When some of the gay couples protesting against the bill to restrict the promotion of same-sex relationships started kissing, pro-bill activists responded by hurling eggs and bundles of nettles.
Some anti-bill protesters chanted Moscow is not Baghdad, while pro-bill demonstrators shouted: Moscow is not Sodom.
The riot police failed to contain the surging crowds, and several activists clashed in a fight. The police said that about 30 activists were detained, but did not indicate whether these were pro- or anti-bill protesters.
Masha Gessen, a prominent Moscow-based journalist and outspoken defender of gay rights, was one of those taken to a police station. She tweeted that she was detained after a pro-Orthodox Church activist attacked her physically but was not detained by riot police.
If the bill is passed, the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships among minors would be punishable by fines ranging from 4,000 ($124) to 5,000 rubles ($155) for individuals, from 40,000 ($1,200) to 50,000 ($1,500) for officials, and from 800,000 ($25,000) to 1 million rubles ($31,000) for organizations.
There would also be tougher fines for the promotion of homosexuality involving the mass media and the Internet: from 50,000 rubles to 1 million rubles, or even 90 days of arrest for people involved in organizations found guilty of this offense.
This daft law has been widely criticized by human rights advocates as Russian law doesnt carry definition of the key terms, which would hand the authorities carte blanche in interpreting it, therefore leaving it open to abuse i.e. unfairly targeting LGBT members of the community.
Russia is trying very hard to make discrimination look respectable by calling it
