guardian.co.uk,
Reuters, 17 August 2012
 |
| Madonna condemned a law imposing fines for spreading 'homosexual propaganda' at a St Petersburg show. Photograph: Shamukov Ruslan /ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis |
A group of
Russian anti-gay activists are suing American pop star Madonna for $10m, saying
she had insulted their feelings when she spoke out for gay rights at a concert
in St Petersburg last week.
Performing
in black lingerie with the words "No Fear" scrawled on her back,
Madonna attacked a city law adopted in March that imposes fines for spreading
homosexual "propaganda". She had earlier called the law a
"ridiculous atrocity".
Homosexuality,
punished with jail terms in the Soviet Union, was decriminalised in Russia in
1993, but much of the gay community remains underground as prejudice runs deep.
"She
had been warned with words that she should behave in line with the law and she
ignored it. So we will speak in the language of money," said Darya Dedova,
one of the 10 activists who filed the lawsuit in a St Petersburg court.
"Of
course, it is difficult to measure moral damages and suffering but maybe people
who earn money regardless of moral rules will better understand this."
Dedova
added that if they won the case, the money would be sent to orphanages.
Alexei
Kolotkov, another of the activists who filed the suit, said: "Maybe
someone does not see the link but after Madonna's concert maybe some boy
becomes gay, some girl becomes lesbian, fewer children are born as a result and
this big country cannot defend its borders - for me it causes moral suffering."
The St
Petersburg propaganda law is the model for a bill that has been submitted to
the national parliament but has not yet faced a vote. Critics say they fear it
could be used to clamp down on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community, for example by barring gay rights demonstrations.
In Moscow,
gay rights suffered a blow when an appeal court upheld a lower court's ruling
that found city authorities had acted legally when they rejected applications
from activists to hold a gay pride parade, banning one from taking place in the
city every year for the next 100 years.
Attempts to
hold gay rights rallies in the Russian capital have often ended in arrests and
clashes with anti-gay activists.
In May,
dozens of people were detained in Moscow after Russian Orthodox activists broke
up two gay rights marches, throwing water and shouting prayers.
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