In a rare admission from Russian Police, the gruesome torture murder of a young man was a hate crime because the victim was Gay.  It’s making Russian activists worry about increasing prejudice against gays, which they fear will be encouraged by a bill banning "homosexual propaganda".

The 23-year old victim was found in the courtyard of an apartment in Volgograd.  He had been sexually abused with beer bottles, had wounds to his genitals, and his skull was smashed in with a rock.  The victim apparently was drinking with the two men while celebrating Victory Day, which Russia marks on May 9.  They turned on him upon learning he was Gay.

Cops arrested an ex-con and another man and admit the murder was a hate crime. 

Russia didn’t decriminalize homosexuality until 1993 and officially removed it from the list of psychiatric disorders in 1999.

But Russia lawmakers have outraged local and international activists by approving local laws that ban so-called "homosexual propaganda".  Such legislation is now being considered in the Kremlin.  And President Vladimir Putin, who denies the rise of officially-sanctioned homophobia, was recently talking about denying adoption of Russian children with Western countries that are legalising gay marriage, such as France.