If you want to live in Russia, you'd better be straight!

[DanaC]

it's almost as though he relishes the opportunity to be thumped

Nope. I think he relishes the opportunity to show people the thuggish nature of the far right.

It isn't just gay rights that he campaigns on. It's human rights more generally. He goes for high profile stunts, because that's how campaigning works. Bit like when he tried to perform a citizen's arrest on Mugabe.