In urging a boycott of Sir Elton John's
upcoming concerts in Moscow and Kazan, a Russian Islamic religious
leader has accused the singer of promoting sodomy.
Seidzhagfar Lutfullin, the imam of
Kazan's Thousandth Anniversary of Islam Mosque, warned that John's
promotion of gay unions could be a Sodom and Gomorrah moment for
Russia.
“Sodomy … is what the world famous
homosexual Elton John, who recently wed a man in public, is
promoting,” Lutfullin
said in a statement on his mosque's website.
John is scheduled to perform in Moscow
and Kazan in early December.
The openly gay singer's appearance has
also been criticized by Yuri Ageshchev, coordinator for Union of
Orthodox Brotherhoods, The
Moscow Times reported.
“The statement by this gay guy –
Elton John – about his support for gays and other perverts during
the upcoming concert in Moscow is an insult to all Russian citizens,”
he is quoted as saying. “It also makes a mockery of our recently
enacted law against the public propaganda of gay ideas.”
The 66-year-old John, who is touring to
promote his new album, is in a British civil partnership with David
Furnish. The couple is raising two boys.
(Related: Elton
John credits fatherhood as inspiration behind new album.)
In June, Russian President Vladimir
Putin signed legislation that prohibits the public promotion of gay
rights. Russia's “gay propaganda” law has provoked calls for a
boycott of next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Earlier, John said that he wanted to
include Russia in his tour to support the country's gay community.
“I've got to go,” he told UK's The
Guardian. “And I've got to think about what I'm going to
say very carefully. There's two avenues of thought: do you stop
everyone going, ban all the artists coming in from Russia? But then
you're really leaving the men and women who are gay and suffering
under the anti-gay laws in an isolated situation. As a gay man, I
can't leave those people on their own without going over there and
supporting them. I don't know what's going to happen, but I've got
to go.”