Police, anti-gay protesters prevent Moscow gay pride parade

MOSCOW (AP):Police and nationalist protesters forcefully prevented gay and lesbian rights activists from rallying Saturday in Moscow, where they had hoped to put on a display of gay pride despite the city government's vehement refusal to grant permission for a parade.

Police detained the rally's main organizer, Nikolai Alexeyev, as he attempted to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a symbol of Russia's victory against fascism in World War II, just outside the Kremlin wall. «We are conducting a peaceful action. We want to show that we have the same rights as other citizens,» Alexeyev had told a news conference a few hours before the rally was to have begun. But police closed the entrance to the garden where the tomb is located, and as the first half-dozen activists arrived carrying flowers, they were set upon by about 100 religious and nationalist extremists who kicked and punched them. «Moscow is not Sodom!» they shouted. Women wearing head scarves held up religious icons while men in Cossack dress _ white sheepskin hats and black-and-red tunics _ stood by. the rest