by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
About 70 GLBT activists staged a "silent flash mob" on Nevsky Prospekt, in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 25.
Members of the group Coming Out and the Russian LGBT Network taped their mouths shut to mark the International Day of Silence and walked the city's main street handing out leaflets and "silent cards."
About 4,000 pieces of literature were distributed during the 90-minute action.
"The reaction of passersby was extremely positive: so many of them were seeing our large groups, they come up themselves and took leaflets," the organizers said in an English-language statement. "On the way back the participants of the flashmob virtually see hardly single leaflets thrown out, which is the evidence of the fact that citizens read them and considered interesting for themselves."
The organizers said the successful action demonstrated that "the LGBT community of Petersburg is interested not only in entertainments, but also in human rights events."
