This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/13/elton-john-to-vladimir-putin-meet-me-to-discuss-ridiculous-anti-gay-prejudice

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Elton John to Vladimir Putin: meet me to discuss 'ridiculous' anti-gay prejudice Elton John to Vladimir Putin: meet me to discuss 'ridiculous' anti-gay prejudice
(about 5 hours later)
Elton John has said he wants to hold talks with Vladimir Putin over what he called the Russian president’s “ridiculous” stance on gay rights. Elton John has said he wants to meet Vladimir Putin to tell him to end his “ridiculous” stance on gay rights in Russia.
The singer extended the offer of talks after speaking at a conference in neighbouring Ukraine, where he met with President Petro Poroshenko to lobby him about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. The singer, who has been a persistent critic of Russia’s law banning “homosexual propaganda”, said his conscience dictated that he try to persuade the Russian president to end prejudice against people, even if he was ridiculed for doing so.
He made the offer
after speaking at a conference in neighbouring Ukraine, where he met President Petro Poroshenko to lobby him about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
Related: Gay in Putin's Moscow: why the city is pinker than you thinkRelated: Gay in Putin's Moscow: why the city is pinker than you think
John accused Putin of saying “stupid things” in reference to his warning to gay people travelling to the Winter Olympics to “leave the children in peace”. John told the BBC: “I’d love to meet him [Putin], I’d love to sit down and talk to him. It’s probably pie in the sky but unless you try, unless you put your foot in the water, your toe in the water …at least if I meet him and say ‘Listen, come on, let’s have a cup of tea, let’s talk about this’, he might laugh behind my back and then he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot but at least I can have a conscience and say I’d tried.”
Russia also passed a law banning homosexual “propaganda” among children in June 2013, sparking an international outcry. John used concerts in Moscow, in 2013, and St Petersburg last year to condemn the law, introduced in June 2103, which makes it illegal to equate straight and gay relationships or to distribute material on gay rights. He also published an open letter on his website last year urging Russia to repeal the legislation.
Hostility to the LGBT community in Russia has been reinforced by a number of disparaging pronouncements by officials, including Putin’s warning last year to gay people travelling to the Winter Olympics in Sochi to “leave children in peace”.
John told the BBC: “Give me a break. You are president of Russia, and you go and say stupid things like that?”John told the BBC: “Give me a break. You are president of Russia, and you go and say stupid things like that?”
Putin’s attitude to gay people was “isolating and prejudiced” and “ridiculous”, he added. The Rocket Man singer became the first western rock star to perform in the then Soviet Union, in 1979. He performed eight concerts ending each night with a cover of the Beatles track Back in the USSR.
“I would like to meet [Mr Putin]. It’s probably pie in the sky … He may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.” John has previously explained that he continues to play concerts in the country, despite its draconian laws targeting homosexuals, so that gay men and women do not feel that like they are isolated.
The star thanked Poroshenko after meeting with him, saying on Instagram: “After speaking at the YES Ukraine 2015 Conference today in Kiev, I met with Ukraine President Poroshenko about the importance of legislative changes to support LGBT rights. He said he has always been greeted with warmth by the Russian people. Asked what he would say if he met the Russian president, he said: “I’d say ‘Come on … gay people are not the problem here. They’re not the problem of the world. The world faces much bigger problems than gay people. Be accepting and let’s all pull together and try to solve the problems of the world but don’t isolate and be prejudiced against gay people.”
“Specifically I asked him to: 1. Ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity. 2. Provide criminal penalties for hate crimes. Asked last year about the Russian attitude to gay people, Putin said the LGBT community was “not discriminated against in any way”. He said John was an “outstanding individual” who was loved by millions in Russia, “despite his orientation”.
“We need Ukrainian businessmen and power brokers to create a more inclusive and tolerant society. We need this everywhere!” Ukraine has faced criticism for failing to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. John, who was in Kiev, with his husband, David Furnish, wrote on Instagram: : “After speaking at the YES Ukraine 2015 Conference today in Kiev, I met with Ukraine President Poroshenko about the importance of legislative changes to support LGBT rights.
John he temporarily boycotted Dolce and Gabbana earlier in 2015 after the fashion designers called children conceived by IVF “synthetic”. “Specifically I asked him to: 1. Ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity. 2. Provide criminal penalties for hate crimes. “We need Ukrainian businessmen and power brokers to create a more inclusive and tolerant society. We need this everywhere!”
He and husband David Furnish have two sons, Zachary, four, and Elijah, two.