A lone gay rights activist was assaulted by a group of former Russian paratroopers in St. Petersburg on Friday. Why? Because he was holding a rainbow banner that read: "This is propagating tolerance."

The disturbing attack was captured on video, and, according to a translation from Animal New York, the former military men shouted "faggot" while violently shoving the young activist, Krill Kalugin, to the ground.

Advertisement:

Kalugin was in Palace Square to protest Russia's draconian new law banning "gay propaganda," an exceedingly broad term that effectively criminalizes being openly gay in Russia.