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Masked Men Smoke-Bomb Ukraine Gay Event

Masked Men Smoke-Bomb Ukraine Gay Event

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They hurled several bombs into an Odessa venue where an LGBT forum was about to take place, then fled.

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A group of masked men Saturday tossed several smoke bombs into a meeting hall in Odessa, Ukraine, where LGBT activists were about to hold a forum on the state of the movement.

No one was injured, and the assailants fled, Odessa Pride spokesman Kyrylo Bodelan told Agence France-Presse.

A Pride march had been scheduled for today, but a local court Thursday ruled that it could not take place, citing the potential for violence. Antigay attackers had disrupted a Pride parade in Ukraine's capital city of Kiev in June, leaving about a dozen people injured.

Far-right activists in Odessa were strongly opposed to the planned march. "We won''t beat the gays, but this march will not take place," local Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) leader Sergui Sternenko told the Interfax news agency.

Despite the ban, a few LGBT activists demonstrated near Odessa's City Hall, AFP reports. A woman tried to take a sign away from one demonstrator, but police intervened before the confrontation could escalate, the news service notes.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.