Moscow’s first ever gay pride parade on Saturday May 27th was marred by rampant homophobic violence. …

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was unapologetically frank when he explained why he banned the parade. Such events “may be acceptable for some, in some sense, progressive countries in the West, but not for Russia”. …

Observers of the events which unfolded last Saturday, claim the police stood by as thugs attacked gay activists.

[Gay.com]

The “thugs” were mostly White-supremacist skinheads and Orthodox Christians. In Russia, homosexuality was illegal until 1993 and although it is now decriminalized, queers, particularly in Moscow, are still targets for street gangs and self-righteous fucks who take it upon themselves to beat and/or murder queers, crimes which are often brushed off as hooliganism or chalked up to nationalism.

No one is free when others are oppressed.