In an interview with the BBC, out
singer Sir Elton John said that he wants to meet Russian President
Vladimir Putin to discuss gay rights.
The musician is currently in Ukraine,
where he met President Petro Poroshenko. John called on Poroshenko
and business leaders to support LGBT rights.
In 2013, Putin signed a law that
prohibits the promotion of “gay propaganda” to minors.
Last year, Putin defended the law,
saying that it was needed to protect children, and denied claims that
Russia is homophobic.
“Give me a break,” John
told the BBC. “You are [the] President of Russia and you go
and say stupid things like that?”
Putin's attitude toward gay people is
“isolating and prejudiced” and “ridiculous,” John said.
“I would like to meet [Putin],” he
added. “It's probably pie in the sky … He may laugh behind my
back when he shuts the door and call me an absolute idiot, but at
least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried.”