Russia: Moscow’s biggest gay club attacked again
A report from the “This Just In” news blog of the GLBT News Network:
Russia: Moscow’s biggest gay club attacked again
The head of Moscow’s biggest gay club has asked President Vladimir Putin to take measures to protect the club from repeated attacks, which he says are part of an attempt to put pressure on its owners to shut the club down.
Some 100 people seized the attic of the Central Station club on Saturday, fully “dismantling” the roof of the building and stealing or disabling some of the club’s utility equipment, Andrei Lishchinsky wrote in a letter to Putin, arguing that the actions were provoked by hatred toward gays.
In his letter, Lishchinsky said he decided to address Putin directly because the president had on numerous occasions made remarks about the state of gay rights in Russia, saying for instance that the law approved this year banning “gay propaganda” among minors did not encroach on gay rights or create an atmosphere of intolerance in society, contrary to the opinion of the law’s many critics.
Saturday’s attack was not the first on Central Station, one of only a handful of gay clubs in Moscow and one of the largest in Russia. But, according to Lishchinsky, police have failed to identify the organizers of the attacks and have refused to open a criminal case.
Source: The Moscow Times
Reprinted with permission from the GLBT News Network.
Related articles
- Attackers Dismantle Roof of Moscow Gay Club (advocate.com)
- Owner of gay club demands action from Putin following homophobic attack on premises (pinknews.co.uk)
- Archive of all Russia coverage by the Erasing 76 Crimes blog.