MEXICO CITY — LGBT activists on Friday assembled outside the Russian embassy in Mexico City to protest the country’s adoption of anti-gay laws.
According to reports, about 30 people attended the protest and were led by gay rights advocate Alonso Hernández Victoria, in a demonstration to send a message of solidarity to the Russian LGBT community.
Protestors demanded the immediate annulment of a Russian federal law signed by President Vladimir Putin last month, which bans so-called “homosexual propaganda,” punishing offenders with fines.
Protestors shouted slogans including “Look and see, Putin is also a fag,” and “If Lenin were alive, he’d be walking in high-heels,” to highlight what they say is moral hypocrisy LGBT Russian citizens face.
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During the protest, according to an unconfirmed report, an unidentified man came out of the Russian embassy demanding police disperse the protesters. When the police refused, he forcefully pushed one of the protestors and made his way back into the embassy.
Victoria also delivered a letter to Eduard R. Malayan, the Russian Ambassador to Mexico, which demanded “immediate cessation of repression which violates the basic human rights of Russian citizens and undermines the development of a prosperous, inclusive and respectful nation.”
The advocates also said they will ask the Mexican government to speak in solidarity with the international LGBT community and against the anti-gay laws enacted in Russia.