Prison Break Star Wentworth Miller Comes Out, Turns Down Invitation To Russia

Prison Break star Wentworth Miller came out today in a letter declining an invitation to appear at a Russian film festival.

When Miller was invited to be guest of honor at the upcoming St. Petersburg International Film Festival, he wrote a letter, which was posted on the GLAAD website, explaining exactly why he wouldn’t attend. “Thank you for your kind invitation,” he began his letter to the festival’s director, Maria Averbakh. “As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline.

“I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government,” he continued. “The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly. Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve, I’ll be free to make a different choice.”

Read Miller’s letter.