18 February 2014, 19:17
Italian transgender activist asserts that she was twice detained in Sochi
Vladimir Luxuriya, an ex-deputy of the Italian Parliament and a transgender activist, said that he was twice detained by the police in Sochi. The latter denies the detentions.
A message about Luxuriya's detention in Sochi arrived on Tuesday at the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot".
On February 17, the activist went in a rainbow wig to the "Shaiba-Arena" in the Olympic Park. He (she) was detained together with two Italian journalists. A few hours later, Luxuriya was released, the portal "Gayrussia.eu" reports.
On February 16, Luxuriya was going to attend a match of women's hockey teams and took his rainbow flag with the words "Gay is ok". According to the transgender activist, policemen stopped him/her and demanded to give the flag away.
The LGBT activist argues that policemen handled him politely and said that they had nothing against the rainbow flag, but the inscription on it falls under the definition of propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships, which is forbidden in Russia, the Associated Press reports.
According to the activist, after the detention, he spent several hours at the police station and then was released.
