by Rex Wockner
International News
Homophobes attacked gay activists in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 3 after about 25 activists staged an "International Day of Silence" action in Chernyshevsky Park. The activists had taped their mouths shut, handed out leaflets and sat on benches.
Although police guarded the action itself, two participants were beaten after the action ended. The Interfax news service described the assailants as "dressed as rappers."
They punched and kicked rally co-organizer Igor Petrov, head of the Russian LGBT Organizations Network, and Ignat Fialkovskiy, press secretary of the local gay film festival, then ran away as police approached. The activists were not seriously injured.
Day of Silence rallies also took place in the Russian cities of Novokuznetsk and Yaroslavl, and in several other nations.
The Novokuznetsk action took the form of a "flash mob" in which 20 activists, linked via online social networks, came together to quickly distribute fliers, then disassemble before police could react. One participant was injured when a group of skinheads set upon the activists.
The Yaroslavl action also used the "flash mob" approach. Nine people took part and 600 fliers were distributed. Only four people who received the information expressed objections to it.
"We were able to (get out) the word about the problem of emotional harassment and violence, discrimination and intolerance based on sexual orientation and gender identity," said Valery Silantiev, a Russian organizer of the Day of Silence events. "The attacks on the participants of the event in St. Petersburg and Novokuznetsk confirmed the relevance of the problem."
Novokuznetsk is about 1,800 miles (3,000 km) southeast of Moscow and has a population of about 550,000. Yaroslavl is about 150 miles (250 km) northeast of Moscow and has a population of about 613,000.
