Pop star Annie‘s “Russian Kiss” video, featuring Bjarne Melgaard, is “a critical cry from Norwegian and American elite performers — albeit not from the Olympic disciplines.” Annie and Bjarne joined up to create this music video “about the right to kiss one’s beloved — regardless of sexual orientation — wherever one likes,” according to the “Russian Kiss” website.

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Lush has launched a new campaign in an attempt to “keep attention on [Russia’s] anti-gay propaganda law” in advance of the Sochi 2014 Olympics. “…To forbid or criminalize love… is unnatural and cruel, so I am proud that we are standing in solidarity with LGBTQ people and campaigning for equal love,” said Tamsin Omond, head of Lush campaigns.

“In its Valentine’s campaign, Lush’s stores will display signs proclaiming ‘We believe in Love.’ Staff will also encourage customers to paint pink triangles on their bodies as a symbol of support for equal love.” The Indepedent reported.

From Lush’s UK website: “We believe in love for everyone, between everyone. As part of our Sign of Love campaign, Lush are creating photo petition books which we will send to Russian embassies worldwide on the 14th February – the international day of love. Show your solidarity by uploading a photo of yourself painted with a pink triangle, using pink lipstick, then share your #SignofLove via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.”

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BY JESS MORR

Stoli Group (USA) of Stolichnaya vodka has announced a three-year partnership with the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s Leadership Learn, Act, Build (LAB) program, which aims to help aspiring LGBT leaders to effectively advocate for equality. Stolichnaya, owned by SPI Group, joined the battle against the controversial, anti-gay “propaganda” laws in Russia with a worldwide message of support for the LGBT community. So far, Stoli has donated $300,000 for a fund that will go towards training the potential leaders to build strong organizations to fight against legislation which endangers or discriminates against LGBT people.

“Our position at Stoli is clear. We stand with the LGBT community in the fight for equality, and are proud to be working with the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center to make our joint vision possible,” said the president of Stoli Group USA, John Esposito. “Through our strategic partnership we hope to harness the power of our global community, cultivating leaders on a local level in the U.S. to create meaningful change throughout the world.”

Read more at dot429.com

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The Republic of Moldova, a country in Eastern Europe landlocked between Ukraine and Romania, overturned its “gay propaganda” ban on Friday in an effort to gain European Union membership. Having passed the legislation in June, lawmakers voted to repeal the clause that prohibited “relationships [other] than those linked to marriage and the family,” largely advocated for the by country’s Orthodox Christian majority, according to the AFP.

The move comes in wake of international criticism surrounding neighboring Russia’s anti-gay “propaganda” legislation, which is currently paving the way for a bill that would remove the children of LGBT parents from their homes. The legislation hasgalvanized anti-LGBT activists in the country, enabling a pervasive climate of fear andalleged violence for LGBT citizens living within the former Soviet Union.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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This painting by Konstantin Altunin was seized from a St. Petersburg gallery.

BY STEVE WILLIAMS
Care2

Disturbing news from Russia tells that flyers are now being posted encouraging people to denounce those they suspect of spreading “gay propaganda” and that Russian officials have started raiding the homes of human rights activists. Other reports have suggested that Russian landlords have begun posting signs encouraging neighbors of people they suspect to be gay to inform on them.

In somewhat related news, police in Russia also recently seized from a St Petersburg art gallery a painting depicting President Vladimir Putin in women’s underwear combing the hair of Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s Prime Minister. The police seized in total four paintings, another of which depicted St Petersburg lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, a key architect of Russia’s propaganda laws, against a rainbow background. The artist of the works, Konstantin Altunin, has reportedly fled to France in order to seek asylum.

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The biggest name in the National Hockey League took his turn speaking out against Russia’s anti-gay law over the weekend, just six months before the Winter Olympics begin in Sochi. Crosby is at least the third NHL player to speak out against the Russian law, which bans “homophobic propaganda.”

“For me growing up in Canada, my view has always been that way,” Pittsburgh Penguins and Team Canada star Sidney Crosby said at a news conference Sunday. “I think that everyone has an equal right to play and I think we’ve been supportive of that. With the Olympics and the controversy around that I think those decisions and those laws aren’t necessarily something that I agree with personally … their laws and their views.”

Read more at ThinkProgress.org

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Gold medalist Tatyana Firova and Kseniya Ryzhova of Russia kiss in Moscow. (Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

BY SARA GATES
Huffington Post Gay Voices

After winning the 4×400-meter relay at World Athletics Championships Saturday, runners Tatyana Firova and Kseniya Ryzhova shared a kiss. Then the gold medalists kissed again during the award ceremony. While some speculated that the Russian athletes’ kiss on the winners podium was an apparent jab at the country’s anti-gay law, local media questioned whether it was a political gesture or simply a congratulatory embrace.

Neither athlete has released a statement, so the kiss may have been just that — a kiss. However, as Gay Star News notes, the Russian athletes’ kiss does violate the anti-gay law passed by Russia’s parliament earlier this year. So the two women could, theoretically, be prosecuted for their public lip-lock, since it could be perceived as propagating non-traditional sexual relations.

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After coming in second in the Men’s 800m, Nick Symmonds dedicated his medal to LGBT friends. (Photo: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)

BY JAMES NICHOLS
Huffington Post Gay Voices

After winning a silver medal at the World Track & Field Championships in Moscow on Aug. 13, American middle distance runner Nick Symmonds openly dedicated the victory to his gay and lesbian friends in his home country. The act reportedly makes Symmonds the first athlete to critique and oppose Russia’s anti-gay legislation while in Russia.

“As much as I can speak out about it, I believe that all humans deserve equality as however God made them,” said Symmonds in a statement after taking second in the 800-meter race, notes Russia & India Reports. “Whether you’re gay, straight, black, white, we all deserve the same rights. If there’s anything I can do to champion the cause and further it, I will, shy of getting arrested.”

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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Gay rights advocates. (Photo via ComingOut)

BY JAMES NICHOLS
Huffington Post Gay Voices

In the latest chapter of Russia’s continuing saga of homophobic legislation and anti-LGBT violence, Dmitri Kisilev, Deputy General Director of the Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, recently slammed the gay community on the country’s most popular news program.

Speaking on Rossiya 1, a state-owned news network, Kisilev stated that:

“I think that just imposing fines on gays for homosexual propaganda among teenagers is not enough. They should be banned from donating blood, sperm. And their hearts, in case of the automobile accident, should be buried in the ground or burned as unsuitable for the continuation of life.”

The statements were met with resounding applause from the audience.

Read more at Huffington Post Gay Voices

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BY KELLY MORRIS

Russia’s anti-gay laws are causing people to flee straight to Canada, even if it means they will be homeless. Maxim Zhuralev, a 38-year-old gay man, spent all of his money getting to Canada from Kurgan in late March. He is currently living in a homeless shelter in downtown Vancouver while he waits for his claim for asylum to process and said his life is already “better than Russia,” according to the Montreal Gazette.

Rob Hughes, a Vancouver lawyer that deals with LGBT asylum claimants, has noticed an increase in Russian clients since the anti-gay laws were put into place. While the federal government doesn’t track the number of asylum claimants that come to Canada for fear of their sexual orientation, Russian claims are usually low. According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, 48 claims have been made since January. From April to June, just 19 were made.

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