The pop icon has said he will go ahead with two concerts in Russia for the sake of his gay fans in that country, but conservative groups there are calling for a ban on the Rocket Man.

Russia recently amended its law for the protection of children to essentially make it illegal to be out of the closet. The idea, backed by President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party, is that gay people replenish their ranks by propagandizing young people.

The LGBT community in America and around the world has responded with protests and a boycott of Russian vodka. John said he would go to Russia anyway, because, “I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them.”

But he may not have a choice. As the Advocate reports, the homophobic Ural Parents Committee is asking Putin to shut down the concerts, which are scheduled for December. The coordinator for the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods is also calling for a ban:

“The statement by this gay guy — Elton John — about his support for gays and other perverts during the upcoming concert in Moscow is an insult to all Russian citizens,” [Yuri] Ageshchev told the Novy Region news agency, according to The Moscow Times. “It also makes a mockery of our recently enacted law against the public propaganda of gay ideas.”

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer

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#elton john#gay rights#homophobia#lgbtq#music#russia#vladimir putin