Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has condemned the homophobic violence seen on the streets of Moscow in response of the city’s first ever Gay Pride march.
In a statement released today the Mayor said the violence was the work of “fascists” adding that “assaulting gay and lesbian people, is to trample on the memory of all those who fought against Nazism and particularly the 27 million Soviet citizens who died in the fight against fascism.”
The Mayor branded as “reactionary” the opposition to the march by “the Russian Orthodox Church, the Grand Mufti, and the Chief Rabbi”.
Mr Livingstone said he opposed “the positions of both the Mayor of Moscow and the former Mayor of Warsaw, now the president of Poland, in banning gay rights marches and the support to this given by a number of religious authorities.”
The Mayor has a long history in supporting the rights of gay men and women, having introduced a civil partnership register for Londoners long before central Government legislated to provide same-sex couples with legal recognition.
