I have been very concerned today at reports from the LGBT organisation “Coming out” in St. Petersburg in Russia that the city administration denied LGBT activists the right to organize an International Day of Silence street protest. The basis for denial was the infamous "gay propaganda" law, which achieved worldwide opprobrium and notoriety when it came into effect in St. Petersburg on March 30 of this year. The St Petersburg authorities have effectively authorised the persecution of LGBT people.

But this is the first application of the anti-gay law in St. Petersburg, the heart of the Russian LGBT rights movement. [Read more]