Right Said Fred Attacked As Pro- And Anti-Gay Factions Collide In Moscow
Right Said Fred isn’t too sexy to be punched in the face by Russian anti-gay activists.
Richard Fairbrass, the chrome-domed singer of RSF, was part of a non-government-sanctioned gay rights march in Moscow on Sunday along with faux lesbian Tatu members Julia Volkova and Elena Katina and a number of European politicians. They were met by Russian skinheads, ultra-nationalists and fundamentalist Orthodox church members — some wearing surgery masks to protect themselves from the “gay disease” — who were shouting “Moscow isn’t Sodom” and “Death to gays.”
The pro-homosexuals were marching to city hall to deliver a letter signed by 42 members of the European Parliament protesting mayor Yuri Luzhkov’s refusal to grant a permit for a gay rights march in the city for two consecutive years. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but the mayor has described it as “satanic activity.”
There were less than 100 gay rights supporters, who were pelted by eggs and tomatoes. Fairbrass was being interviewed on television when a man started repeatedly punching him in the head, leaving him with a bloody face from cuts around his eyes and nose. Gay advocate Peter Tatchell was said to have been repeatedly beaten and kicked before being taken away by two riot policemen. As many as 30 other gay rights protesters were also detained, allegedly for their own protection.
Source: chartattack.com