Yesterday while many of our eyes were turned to the our nations capitol to watch bigotry and hatred rule the United States,  Nikolai Alekseev Russia’s highest profile gay activist, was among eleven who were arrested outside Moscow City Hall. Alekseev just last week returned to Moscow after a horrific72-hour ordeal which started when he was kidnapped and drugged by Russian police at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport as he was about to board a Swiss Air Lines flight to Geneva..

“Today it was like a VIP service at the police station, I have never seen any such service from this police station in the last five years that I have been regularly taken there when conducting our actions,” he said.

The activists were taking part in a demonstration against the homophobic mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, and his “faggots” remark which a Moscow court ruled recently was not hate speech. All but one of those arrested were said to have chained themselves to the railings outside City Hall.

Also arrested was a reporter from Agence France Presse.  She was seen by activists being hauled into a police van.  But Mr. Alekseev told UK Gay News later that she was not taken to the police station and was presumably released without charge.  He also confirmed his and ten others’ arrest

Maybe its time we take a cue from Nicholai and stop writing and making phone calls that that thoise in power obviously refuse to listen to and do what is morally right and start standing up.

Watch the video of Nikolai Alekseev arrest below.