Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

Clip description: “The bullying footage used in this video was all filmed and posted by the perpetrators. Under Putin’s leadership, Russia has enacted a series of anti-gay laws. A boycott of Russian vodka was called by human rights activists. This video is in support of that boycott.”

The proposed bill that would authorize the Russian government to seize the children of gay parents will be debated in February. The debate will likely coincide with the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi which have already been marred by boycott calls over Russia’s controversial new anti-gay legislation. The bill, published on the website of Russia’s Duma lower house of …

Talk about symbolism. Via the Washington Post: Russia rolled out a red carpet, on Red Square, for the Olympic flame on Sunday and another red carpet for the man who made the big bet on Russia as host for the Winter Games next year in Sochi: President Vladimir Putin. The flame, which would later choose the wrong moment to show …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Despite Russia’s role as the main supplier of weapons to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, an advocacy group has put the president’s name forward because the former KGB agent “actively promotes settlement of all conflicts arising on the planet.” The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation of Peoples of …

A Russian parents’ group has demanded that Vladimir Putin cancel Elton John’s coming concerts there. In an open letter to Putin, the local parents’ group in central Ural region was reported by media as saying: “The singer intends to come out in support of local sodomites and break the current Russian law, directed at protecting children.” Critics say the law …

Elton John appeared yesterday on NPR’s Fresh Air where the interviewer asked about his coming concert in Moscow. “I’m aware of the situation and I will be diplomatic. I’m not going to go into Russia and tell [Vladimir Putin] to go to hell and things like that. That’s not the way things are done. You chip away at something, and …

Members of Queer Nation protested at yesterday’s opening night gala at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera. The New York Times reports: “Putin, end your war on Russian gays!” a man shouted in the vast auditorium, which was packed for the black-tie gala opening of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” before turning to two of the evening’s Russian stars: Anna Netrebko, the popular …

Palin writes: “Thanks to my Aunt Billie in Texas for sending me her friend’s clever caption.”

Vladimir Putin today declared that Russia doesn’t discriminate against gay people. Putin on Thursday insisted the law bans only “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.” He argues that it is “no infringement on the rights of sexual minorities.” The law has prompted calls for boycotts of the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by Russia in Sochi. Putin says while some …

“I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few. You should be governed by a rule of law that is clear, consistently and impartially enforced and just. …

(Tipped by JMG reader Duke)

On today’s Good Morning America.

NPR has this morning’s development: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday they have reached an agreement on a framework for Syria to destroy all of its chemical weapons, and raised the specter of a potential U.N. Security Council resolution that could authorize sanctions — even military action — if President Bashar Assad’s …

In response to Vladimir Putin’s op-ed in the New York Times, Sen. John McCain semi-joked that he’d like to write for Russia’s state-owned newspaper, Pravda. Perhaps surprisingly, they said yes. “If John McCain wants to write something for us, he is welcome,” Dmitry Sudakov, the English editor of Pravda tells The Cable. “Mr. McCain has been an active anti-Russian politician …

“I’m gonna behave myself, for the record here, which is unlike me. But you know, the first phone call to the new head of the Olympics was from President Putin, and everyone wants to talk about the Russian law on homosexuality. Think about the opportunities that sports have to make a continuing statement, and the only thing that we’re saying …

Radio Free Europe reports: A popular television channel in Russia has been warned for allegedly propagating same-sex relations. Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media announced on September 12 that it had warned the EvroKino television channel for airing the 2007 French musical “Les Chansons d’Amour” (Love Songs). The agency said the film contains “propaganda …