Attempts since 2006 to hold the event have consistently been met with official bullying, arrests, and clashes with police and right-wing counterprotesters.
Among those detained by the police were both those marching for gay pride and right-wing demonstrators who attacked them.
Choi was later released. But here he gives a status report from the police van following his arrest:
RFE/RL's Russian Service also reported that "Novaya gazeta" correspondent Yelena Kostyuchenko, who took part in the rally, was hospitalized with a concussion.
Permission was denied again for the march this year, despite the fact that the European Court of Human Rights ruled in October 2010 that Moscow had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by forbidding the rallies in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
PHOTO GALLERY: Moscow gay-pride parade 2011
Photo Gallery:
Gay Rights Marchers Bullied, Detained In Moscow
Scenes from downtown Moscow on May 28, when some gay-rights advocates had pledged to go ahead with a rally despite the event being banned by city authorities. A small number of participants was confronted, violently in some cases, by antigay groups and set on by police who detained an unspecified number of people.
-- RFE/RL
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Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us attransmission+rferl.org
