Madonna is calling on her fans to
challenge St. Petersburg's recently enacted gay propaganda law.
When Madonna takes the St. Petersburg
stage on Thursday – she played Moscow on Tuesday – the queen of
pop is preparing to defy authorities and is asking concertgoers to
stand in solidarity.
In a Facebook post, she announced that
pink wristbands would be handed out “to anyone that wants to
support the LGBT community.”
“At Thursday's Madonna concert, a
pink wristband will be available to anyone that wants to support the
LGBT community in St. Petersburg,” the message read. “The
wristbands will be part of the show – be prepared to raise your arm
in support!”
Earlier this year, city leaders
approved a law which criminalizes “public actions aimed at
propaganda of pederasty, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism
among minors.”
St. Petersburg Assemblymember Vitaly
Milonov, the bill's author, reportedly
told the Interfax news agency that the gay icon would be punished
if she violated the law.
“If Madonna or one of the organizers
of the concert breaks the city law, they will be punished,” Milonov
said, adding that he would personally attend Madonna's performance to
“monitor the moral content of the concert.”
Police have not said whether wearing
the wristband would violate the city's law.
Some local gay rights activists,
however, said Madonna should do more.
“In our opinion, it is not enough to
say a few words in support of homosexuals between two songs during a
concert,” Yury Gavrikov told AFP.
“If you position yourself as a defender of human rights then you
need to do something more substantial.”
(Related: Elton
John: Madonna has been horrible to Lady Gaga.)