Arts & Entertainment
Lady Gaga blasts Russia over LGBT rights record
Singer spoke out against St. Petersburg anti-gay law during 2012 concert
Lady Gaga on Monday blasted the Russian government over its LGBT rights record.
āThe Russian government is criminal,ā she wrote on her Twitter page. āOppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom.ā
Lady Gagaās comments come days after Russian authorities announced they are investigating whether she and Madonna did not secure the proper visas to enter the country last year.
Lady Gaga and Madonna spoke out against the cityās law that bans gay propaganda to minors during their concerts in St. Petersburg.
Vitaly Milonov, the St. Petersburg lawmaker who introduced the bill, prompted Russian authorities to investigate the singers.
āWhy didnāt you arrest me when you had the chance, Russia?ā Lady Gaga tweeted. āBecause you didnāt want [to] answer to the world?ā
Lady Gagaās tweets come against the backdrop of growing outrage over Russiaās LGBT rights record.
President Vladimir Putin in late June signed a broadly worded law that bans gay propaganda to minors across Russia. A second statute that bans foreign same-sex couples and any couple from a country in which gays and lesbians can legally marry from adopting Russian children took effect last month.
LGBT rights groups and other organizations that receive funding from outside Russia could face a fine if they don’t register as a “foreign agent.”
Authorities in the Russian capital in May arrested 30 people who tried to stage a Pride march outside Moscow City Hall. St. Petersburg officials in June took more than 40 LGBT rights advocates into custody who tried to stage their own Pride event.
Authorities in Murmansk on July 21 arrested four Dutch LGBT rights advocates who were filming a documentary about gay life in Russia. A St. Petersburg appellate court a few days later overturned a lower courtās ruling that fined a local LGBT advocacy group 500,000 rubles or slightly more than $15,202 for violating the countryās āforeign agentā law that took effect in 2012.
Reports of anti-gay violence, hate crimes and even ultra-nationalists torturing gay Russian teenagers whom they meet through fake accounts on local social media networks continue to emerge from the country.
Actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein is among those who have urged the U.S. and other countries to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia, in February over the countryās LGBT rights record. Author Dan Savage and LGBT rights advocate Cleve Jones have also called for a boycott of Russian vodka.
āSending bravery to LGBTs in Russia,ā Lady Gaga tweeted. āThe rise in government abuse is archaic. Hosing teenagers with pepper spray? Beatings? Mother Russia?ā
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The 2024 New York City Pride Parade wound through the streets of Manhattan and past the historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday, June 30.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
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The fourth annual Fredericksburg Pride march and festival was held at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 29. The event began with a march around downtown Fredericksburg beginning and ending in the park.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Covering Fredericksburg Pride for @WashBlade . City Council member @WillMackintosh speaking: pic.twitter.com/tDdVD2IVsM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) June 29, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Goodwin Living Pride
Senior living and healthcare organization holds fourth annual march at Falls Church campus
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The senior living and healthcare organization Goodwin Living held its fourth annual community Pride march around its Bailey’s Crossroads campus in Falls Church, Va. with residents, friends and supporters on Tuesday, June 25. Following the march, a drag brunch was held with performances by drag artists of SADBrunch: Crimsyn, Sapphire Dupree and Evon Dior Michelle.
(Photos courtesy of Goodwin Living)
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