“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.”
