St. Petersburg police on Wednesday said theywill investigate whether the actions of the recent sanctioned gay parade in one of the city parks involved elements of gay propaganda.
Last Thursday, several dozen masked individuals attacked the first sanctioned gay demonstration in St. Petersburg and then vented their anger on migrant workers after police drove the gays safely from the scene, Fontanka.ru said.
St. Petersburg police also arrested one man who shot a participant in the face with a non-lethal pistol during the event, which was devoted to the international day against homophobia on Thursday.
This was the first sanctioned gay rally in St. Petersburg since the city legislature passed a law banning gay propaganda in March.
The demonstration participants gathered in Petrovsky Park, and as they released balloons into the air, onlookers behind a police cordon shouted obscenities at them and at police.
Eyewitnesses said an unidentified person suddenly fired a rubber bullet into the face of a demonstration participant, who is currently in the hospital.
