Masked Attackers Storm Moscow Gay Club

The Associated Press

Published: October 12, 2012 (Issue # 1730)

MOSCOW — A gay activist says three people have been injured by masked men who stormed into a Moscow gay club in an apparent hate crime.

Viktoria Soto of the 7 Freedays club said Friday that a dozen attackers broke in late Thursday during a "Coming Out" party.

Soto said the attack was organized, and that the attackers were “especially aggressive” toward women.

Moscow police told Russian media that a young woman was hospitalized with broken glass in her eye. Police were using security cameras footage to identify the attackers.

Although homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993, discrimination against gays remains strong in Russia. Attempts to hold gay pride events have provoked violence by police and militant Orthodox activists.

Recently, St. Petersburg and two other Russian cities passed laws imposing fines for "homosexual propaganda."