Second Kiev Pride organizer attacked

This is a re-post of an article by Andrew Potts, published on Gay Star Alliance on 23/06/2012

Another Kiev Pride 2012 organizer has been attacked and hospitalised a month after authorities invoked public safety to cancel the event.

The committee chairman of Kiev Pride 2012 was beaten up by a group of men on Thursday night in Kiev.Taras Karasiychuk was approached by the men around midnight while returning to his home in Kiev.The men repeatedly used homophobic slurs during the attack and did not steal anything, leading Kiev Pride 2012 organizers to believe the attack was planned.‘There is no question that this was an homophobic attack, and possibly a specifically targeted attack on a Kiev Pride organizer,’ Kiev Pride 2012 international secretary Stanislav Mishchenko said.Following the attack, Karasiychuk was taken to hospital where an MRI scan revealed a double fracture of the jaw.Karasiychuk is due to undergo surgery soon and has been moved to a safe location while he recovers from a concussion.The attack came a day and a month after authorities cancelled a planned Kiev Pride march on May 20 where another member of the organizing committee, Svyatoslay Sheremet was also attacked and hospitalized.Ukrainian Police cancelled the march 20 minutes before it was due to start, claiming that a group of 500 right wing thugs were on route to disrupt the event.Sheremet and another activist were beaten and tear gassed by a group of around a dozen youths after marchers had been evacuated from the area by police.The day before an LGBT themed photo exhibition was attacked and vandalized at Kiev’s Visual Culture Research Center.The attack on Karasiychuk comes as the Ukrainian Parliament considers a bill which would amend the country’s public morality laws, media laws and criminal code to criminalize the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality.