As ‘non-traditional sexual relations propaganda’ is banned in Russia, Vitaly Milonov, a key politician behind the new law, calls gay TV personality, writer and campaigner Stephen Fry “sick” for attempting suicide.
“Who is this Stephen Fry?” Milanov, who met Fry earlier this year, said during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I know he is [a] sick person because he tried to commit suicide as far as I remember.” He then went on to state that he believed gay teens weren’t really bullied for their sexuality, and that they just said they were in order to “indoctrinate” other youth.
Fry has made his feelings about the homophobic censorship laws in Russia clear, participating in a protest on Saturday close to Downing Street, and writing an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, where he wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of gays as scapegoats was similar to Hitler’s treatment of Jews.
Fry urged that the planned Winter Olympics be moved from Russia, while the PM responded in a Tweet that it would not be appropriate to boycott the 2014 Russian Winter Olympics, but that he had great sympathy for the plight of the country’s gay community.
During the protest, Fry told gay news service, pinknews.co.uk, “I’m sure [the Winter Olympics] will go ahead, I don’t have any illusions about that; and when it does I suggest that all the athletes show their solidarity for it, like the famous Black Panthers’ salute in Munich, which was such an incredible moment there.
“All of the athletes, straight or gay, should perform a symbol that everyone in the world will know refers to the suffering of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Russia.”
