Christian Slavs protest at Pride Parade

[Kate Thomas]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/15264913.htm

Religious refugees lock horns with Sacramento gays
Christian Slavs, who are not used to seeing open homosexuality, protest at parade, school boards
By Dorothy Korber
SACRAMENTO BEE
SACRAMENTO - Thousands of religious refugees mass in the streets of Sacramento to shout "Shame!" Their targets, with their own history of persecution still fresh and raw, retort: "Go back to Russia!"

How did it come to this?

In the past few months, the growing conflict between Sacramento's Slavic Christians and its politically savvy gay community has erupted on campuses, at school board hearings and on the grounds of the Capitol.

Russian-speaking hecklers lined the march of this year's gay pride parade downtown. At least 15 Slavic students were suspended in April for wearing shirts proclaiming, "Homosexuality is sin." This spring, Slavic Christians packed board meetings in three local school districts to make their position clear: Being gay is not OK.

Gays are starting to respond in kind. A dozen staged a counterprotest in July, demonstrating outside the region's largest evangelical Slavic church during Sunday morning services.

Gays say the Slavic protesters have hit them with signs, spit on them and displayed a menacing lack of civility. Gay leaders have met with local police and press to say they are worried about violence, and now they are forming a "Q Crew" -- a new political activism group -- to tell the public their fears.