A student ombudsman at one of Moscow's largest universities has resigned after making homophobic comments online.
Andrei Bukhantsov, a fourth-year student at the capital's Higher School of Economics announced his resignation on social media on Wednesday evening.
"Over the last two weeks I've had a lot of criticism thrown at me just because of an unfortunate joke," he wrote.
"I would be lying if I said that this situation was not difficult for me, and I consider it right to step down and give my post to [student politician Fedor Kabanov]: someone who has supported me both as my competitor during elections and during my time as an elected official."
Hundreds of students signed a petition calling for Bukhantsov's resignation after he described an opposition protest against Moscow City Hall's as “a gay parade.”
He stirred discontent when he attempted to apologize, telling his followers on Russian social network Vkontakte that he was “sorry for confusing gays with ordinary people.”
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