Singer Melissa Etheridge on Monday
helped launch the Uprising of Love campaign with a new single
dedicated in support of LGBT Russians.
Uprising of Love supports the Russia
Freedom Fund, a vehicle for making financial contributions in support
of Russia's LGBT rights movement and efforts to combat anti-gay
discrimination in the former Soviet Republic.
“At this unique moment in history,
when we are seeing such rapid progress in the fight for equality in
the West, we cannot be blinded to appalling crimes against humanity
elsewhere,” a
statement on the campaign's website says. “Today in Russia,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people are
facing harassment, arrest and violence under a set of horrific new
laws. For their sake, we must come together and start an uprising of
love.”
The openly gay Etheridge debuted her
single Uprising of Love at Monday's event. (The video is
embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Etheridge co-founded the campaign with
Milk scribe Dustin
Lance Black and producer Bruce Cohen.
Celebrities who have pledged their
support include Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, James Franco, Sara Gilbert,
Sean Hayes, Chris Colfer, George Takei and Sigourney Weaver, to name
a few.