I can not believe that people are still fighting against love! When 2 people of any socia-economic, religious and/or political background are in a committed, loving and nurturing relationship how is that any different than their own? Hiding behind religion to make a stance on who can be together is ridiculous as many people do not believe the bible literally!
The ‘Gay Propaganda Law’ in St. Petersburg, Russia was approved by the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and was signed into law by the city’s governor, Georgiy Poltavchenko. This law came into effect as of March 30, 2012. The law fines individuals up to $17,000 for “promoting homosexuality” and “pedophilia” among minors. Anyone who violates this law faces jail time. I am getting really irritated by individuals who constantly associate pedophila with homosexuality – this is blantantly a false statement and perpetuates the ignorant beliefs that these homophobic individuals have. I have witnessed and have read about many ‘straight’ (if you want to label) individuals going to jail for pedophilia. Why doesn’t Russia do anything about human trafficking instead of passing ridiculous and homophobic laws based on what their religious views are.
Madonna is definately not a stranger to controversy and has expressed her views on this law during a recent stop on her MDNA world tour. She condemned the law and indicated that the gay and lesbian community should be able to love without fear (shouldn’t anyone?). She made her opinions very clear and directly violated St. Petersburg ‘Gay Propaganda’ law and was fined $17,0000.
Madonna also expressed her distaste for another controversial issue that is happening in Russia. Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevucg-Masha face a charge of hooliganism that could send them to jail for seven years for singing a song in church. The song happened to be an anti-Putin song. Masha, Nadia and Katya belong to a punk rock band called Pussy Riot. It’s a loose collective of about 10 young Moscow women, feminists in a very macho country, who dress up in brightly coloured clothes and balaclavas (ski masks) and use music and performance art to criticize the repression and conformity they see around them.
Madonna donned a ski-mask during a performance of one of her biggest hits ‘Like A Virgin’ to show her support for Pussy Riot and for their art.
I applaud artists like Peaches, Bjork, Patty Smith and Madonna for fighting against this kind of oppression. Russia, it seems – wants to use Pussy Riot as an example to instill fear into other individuals not to speak out against their government or express their personal views about any political or social issues through their art. There is no room in our society for this type of intolerance and oppression and we all must speak out against it. Here is the petition in protest to help the girls of Pussy Riot:
free-pussy-riot?alert_id=fRVjMHAdqw_ItDQsiesEV
Please see the attached link for a better understanding of this controversy:
Inform and educate yourself – when you have the right information, only then can change happen.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
COALITION OF POSITIVE ENERGY 