Russian LGBTA community responds to Madonna’s tour
“We rely on your solidarity very much. We are grateful to you for your support concerning the girls from the feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutzevich – [who] are undergoing the unjust trial these days in Moscow.
We [ask] you to state your position to support LGBT community in Saint Petersburg the same way – clearly and unambiguously for tolerance and equality for everyone and against the anti-gay laws, against the homophobia, the hatred, the discrimination and the violence.”
Excerpt from an Aug. 8 open letter to Madonna, scheduled to perform in St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 9. The letter is signed by Natalia Tsymbalova and Sergey Kondrashov, coordinators of the St. Petersburg-based Alliance of Straights for LGBT Equality.
Notably, Russia’s most prominent LGBT activist, Nikolai Alexeyev (@n_alexeyev) tweeted Aug. 7, “Horrible concert of Madonna in Moscow. Worse than what she gave in 2006 when she thanked homophobic Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.”
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