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The European Parliament has condemned both member and non-member states that currently employ or are proposing harsh anti-LGBT laws, with a finger specifically pointed at Russia, Moldova, Latvia and Lithuania. Details follow.
In the resolution, which passed with a 430 to 105 vote, the EU governing body writes that it is “gravely concerned by developments which restrict freedom of expression and assembly on the basis of misconceptions about homosexuality and transgenderism."
The resolution goes on to add that member states should be “exemplary in the application and protection of fundamental rights in Europe."
The Parliament name-checked Russia's spreading of "Anti-Propaganda" laws, which saw some of its leading opponents arrested over the weekend for attempting to hold a Moscow Pride event.
According to the Moscow Times:
Police said about 40 people were arrested outside the Moscow City Duma and City Hall as gay rights activists attempted to protest a bill that would ban "homosexual propaganda," Interfax reported.
Some of those held were Orthodox activists who had come to disrupt the protest, while others were participants of the gay rights protest, including organizer Nikolai Alexeyev. Police said at least two members of the media who were "participating in the event, not covering it" were also among those arrested.
News media showed pictures and videos of physical altercations between the two groups in which a man holding a rainbow flag was attacked as television journalists stood by with cameras rolling.
Other pictures showed activists holding signs, including one anti-gay protester whose sign read "Moscow is not Sodom."
Only a handful of the Christian assailants were reportedly apprehended by police.
(Source: PinkNews; Image: Moscow Times)
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