Elton John: I still want to talk to Vladimir Putin about LGBT rights
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Version 0 of 1. Elton John has said he is still determined to speak to Vladimir Putin about gay rights, despite being duped by pranksters who called him impersonating the Russian president. John’s comments came as peers urged him not to meet Putin and said his promise to attend the Moscow gay pride rally could place him at risk. On his Instagram account, John posted a picture of a man with a bloodied face, the apparent victim of homophobic violence. John said: “Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however, is never funny.” The singer, who had called for a meeting with Putin and initially believed he had spoken to the Russian president, wrote that he would “always stand up for those that are being degraded and discriminated against”. “I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands,” he said. “If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion.” John had initially posted a picture of Putin on his Instagram account on Tuesday night, thanking the president for speaking to him. “I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia,” he posted. The Kremlin denied Putin had spoken to the singer. A prankster called Vladimir Krasnov, known as Vovan, later said he and a sidekick made the call. He told AFP that John was “very happy and said that the call had made his day and that it was a miracle that it had taken place”. A transcript of the call was played on Russian media, with John promising to attend Moscow’s gay pride event. “Please tell him he’s made my day, OK,” the singer says to the sidekick, who pretends to be a translator for Putin. “It is a very wonderful moment in my life. Thank you.” On Thursday, in a Lords debate on LGBT rights around the world, the Liberal Democrat peer Paul Scriven said: “I understand Elton John wants to have a meeting with President Putin. I have to say to Sir Elton John that he needs to be very careful or else he will be subject to their laws. “If he sings some of his titles, perhaps All The Girls Love Alice he will be in conflict with their rules. Also if he says to President Putin Are You Ready For Love, he could also find himself in trouble.” Lord Scriven said Russian laws promoted a culture where “people can actually persecute and violently abuse in the street lesbian and gay people who are standing up and being who they are. We should be doing more to make sure Russia lifts those particular issues”. Tory peer Norman Fowler, a longstanding campaigner for LGBT rights, said he was a fan of the humanitarian work of John, but added he was “not sure how far a meeting of that kind [with Putin] is going to take us in follow-up action”. Lord Fowler said John should start by lobbying David Cameron to convene a London conference on homophobia. |