Former Italian lawmaker arrested at Sochi for protesting Russian anti-gay law

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STAFF REPORTS | ROME -- A transgender former member of the Italian Parliament was arrested and briefly detained by Russian Security services after she held up a banner that read “Gay is OK,” in Russian according to the leader of an Rome-based Italian gay-rights group reported Italian News Agency ANSA.IT late Sunday.

According to the news agency, no charges were filed against Vladimir Luxuria, a former member of Italy's Parliament as well as a transgender political activist and television presenter.

Luxuria had announced her attention to stage a public protest at the entrance to the Olympic Park in a series of text messages, according to Fabrizio Marrazzo, a spokesperson for the Roman dell'Arrcigai-LGBT Italy LGBT Centre, who spoke with ANSA shortly after Luxuria was arrested.

Flavio Romani, the president of dell'Arrcigai-LGBT,  told ANSA.IT that he had spoken to Luxuria by telephone from the police station where she said she had been detained and again when she was released shortly after 3 AM local time in Sochi, Russia Monday morning.

There has been no official confirmation regarding her arrest nor her detention by Russian security services.