I was watching Sky News this morning and saw footage of the assaults on the activists mentioned in this article. I also saw footage of police allowing these assaults to continue beyond what would normally seem acceptable in Australian society and presumably other western cultures.
I was surprised at the level of intolerance displayed.
Here is an exerpt from the sky news site:
Russian Police Break Up Gay Rights March
Updated: 11:42, Sunday May 27, 2007
Two European lawmakers have been arrested by Russian police in a crackdown on a gay rights protest.
Police swooped on 100 demonstrators who were protesting against a march ban imposed by the mayor of Moscow.
Gay rights leader Nikolai Alexeyev is arrestedA dozen protesters, including the two legislators, were taken away.
Earlier, the protesters had been pelted with eggs and punched by neo-Nazi demonstrators who chanted: "Moscow is not Sodom".
More here