Madonna spoke out in support of the embattled gay community of St Petersburg at her concert. The iconic singer said “The gay community here, and all around the world, have the same rights, to be treated with dignity, with respect, with tolerance, with compassion, with love”
Reuters has the story:
Pop star Madonna spoke out for gay rights at a concert on Thursday in St Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home town, where activists say a law adopted this year to curb homosexual “propaganda” is discriminatory.
Performing in black lingerie with the words “No Fear” scrawled on her bare back, Madonna urged the audience – most wearing pink wrist bands distributed at the door – to “show your love and appreciation to the gay community”.
“We want to fight for the right to be free,” she said.
The American singer has turned a two-concert tour into a platform for comment on Putin’s Russia.
In Moscow on Tuesday, she told a crowd she prays for the release of three members of the band Pussy Riot, who prosecutors want jailed for three years for their “punk prayer” criticizing Putin on the altar of Russia’s main cathedral.
According to St. Petersburg officials pop singer Madonna violated a controversial city law banning the promotion of homosexuality among minors RIA NOVOSTI reports:
A city councilor in St. Petersburg has accused U.S. pop star Madonna of violating a controversial local law banning “homosexual propaganda” during her concert there.
Vitaly Milonov, the author of the law, said the city’s “public organizations” will take either the singer or gig organizers to court.
“We have video footage showing there were 12-year-old children there,” Milonov, who belongs to the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, told journalists.
But the organizers PMI group said the tickets clearly stated those under 18 were not advised to attend the concert.
Read the full report via RIA NOVOSTI
MadonnaTribe has a transcript of the full speech
