A gay rights contingent prominently marched alongside 90,000 other activists in a massive rally on Labor Day along Nevsky Prospect, St Petersberg’s main street.

The state-funded RT news site noted that the marchers were from all colors of the political spectrum, from the ruling United Russia party to Communists and various small opposition groups.

According to the report, the police intervened when controversial legislator Vitaly Milonov, who is known for his anti-gay stance, attempted to block the gay contingent from marching on the grounds of a ‘gay propaganda’ law he himself sponsored.

As the law prohibits distrubuting any kind of gay-related information to minors, he reportedly brought some minors among his supporters to make his case, the report quoted the Fontanka newspaper as saying.

The politician had called for the arrests of gay athletes and tourists at the Sochi Games last year; and the banning of gay clubs and social media pages in order to ‘rid the country of evil’.

In February, a lesbian nightclub owner and her girlfriend met the politician on a plane, took photos of themselves kissing with Milonov in the background and posted the photos on social media. The women and the lesbian club were later investigated.