MOSCOW (AP) — A gay Russian protester has been detained for unfurling a rainbow flag during the Olympic torch relay as it passed through his hometown of Voronezh, 560 miles (910 kilometers) north of Sochi, where the games will begin Feb. 7.
Photos uploaded by his friends show Pavel Lebedev pulling out the flag and then being detained by security employees, who wrestle him to the snow as they wait for police to arrive. Lebedev, who reached by The Associated Press by phone, said he was still in the police station and undergoing questioning.
Lebedev said he was protesting the hosting of the Olympics in Russia, where a bill banning homosexual propaganda was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in June.
