A lawmaker in St. Petersburg has a message for Madonna: keep you. pants on. Literally.
City councilman Vitaly Miranov warned the pop star not to step out of line during her upcoming concert there on Aug.9.
“We are warning the organizers of her concert to make it as decent as possible. Otherwise we will use the harsh laws against them. I heard that during the concerts of this tour she has taken off her pants. We do not need that here,” Milanov said, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The Material Girl caught Miranov’s ire earlier this year after she vowed to speak out from the stage against a harsh new anti-gay law which would make it a crime to discuss homosexuality around minors. He threatened to fine her if she did and said in March that he would was willing to “personally suffer” through her concert in order “to control its moral content.”
The so-called “gay gag rule,” which Miranov proposed, would impose hefty fines up to $16,700 on violators. A similar law was later approved at a national level. The laws’ supporters say it’s meant to protect children from gay “propoganda,” but opponents say it’s just the latest in a string of efforts to discriminate against gay, lesbian, and transgender people.
Madonna is not the only famous musician standing up for gay rights in the region.
On Saturday Elton John begged Ukrainian authorities to stop a recent pattern of violence against gay activist leaders.
“I plead with you. Stop the violence against gay people,” he said during a pause in his act, which headlined a concert ahead of the EuroCup soccer tournament final, which was held in Kiev.
Lady Gaga has also repeatedly spoken out against the treatment of homosexuals in Russia.
Homosexuality was banned in the Soviet Union and was only decriminalized in 1993, though it was still declared a mental disorder until 1999. It remains highly taboo in Russia.俄罗斯圣彼得堡的一位官员向麦当娜发出警告：不要在演唱会当众脱裤子。
麦当娜将于8月9日在在俄罗斯演出。圣彼得堡市议员维达利•米兰诺夫事先通过媒体向麦当娜发出警告：不要做出格的举动。
据俄罗斯国际文传电讯社报道，米兰诺夫说：“我们已经警告麦当娜演唱会的主办方，这场演唱会要办得尽可能体面。否则我们将用严厉的法律惩罚他们。我听说麦当娜在此次巡演中曾在现场脱掉裤子，我们这里可不需要这种表演。”
麦当娜在今年早些时候曾经激怒过米兰诺夫，她打算在演唱会上公开发表言论，反对该市通过的未成年人讨论同性恋属违法行为的法案。米兰诺夫还威胁说，如果麦当娜这样做，将对她进行罚款。他在三月表示，愿意“自己受罪”观看这场演唱会，以“控制不道德内容”。
米兰诺夫提出的这项“同性恋言论限制法规”将对违规者处以最高1.67万美元罚款。随后，俄罗斯又通过一条类似的反同性恋法规。这项法规的支持者称，保护儿童远离同性恋者的“鼓吹”非常重要，但反对者表示，这只是歧视男女同性恋及变性者系列行为的最新举动。
麦当娜不是在该地区支持同性恋权益的唯一一位著名歌手。
周六，艾尔顿-约翰请求乌克兰当局停止针对同性恋活跃领袖的最新暴力行为。
他在演出的间隙说：“我恳求你们，不要再实施反对同性恋者的暴力行为了。”这场演唱会在基辅开赛的欧洲杯决赛前举行，而他的请求也成为全场的亮点。
Lady Gaga也曾多次公开抗议俄罗斯同性恋者的待遇。
前苏联曾禁止同性恋行为，1993年俄罗斯才宣布同性恋合法化，但在1999年之前仍被定为精神疾病。在俄罗斯，同性恋仍属禁忌话题。