The 20 most shocking anti-gay news stories from Russia so far

In recent weeks, the situation of anti-gay violence and ‘gay propaganda’ laws in russia has drawn widespread public attention in the media. However these attacks and others like them have had a longstanding history.

In the following PinkNews catalogue of anti-gay stories in Russia, we take a look at some of the most shocking events to date, from the father who imprisoned his son in a rehab centre last year, to the earliest incidents covered by this site, such as when the gay rights activist Peter Tatchell was punched in the face at a 2007 pride parade.

The stories come in no particular order however, neither chronological nor hierarchical. This is to reflect that the Russian history of anti-gay oppression and violence has followed no straightforward passage either, and cannot be thought of as a something that has only just happened.