11:27 am - 10/17/2012
Antigay Russian activists have obtained Madonna’s home address in New York City and sent her a summons to show up at a Russian court. Nine plaintiffs are desperate to make "Madge" pay after suffering “moral damages” at her gig in St. Petersburg.
Another summons was issued to the address of Madonna’s gym Hard Candy in central Moscow. However, gym staff insist they have not received any letter from St. Petersburg, and thus can’t inform their Big Boss.
The pro-Kremlin group Trade Union of Russian Citizens wants the Material Girl in court for blasphemy and for damaging the cultural foundations of St. Petersburg. Nine activists filed a suit against the pop star after her concert on August 9. They are seeking 333 million rubles (around US$10 million) from Madonna and from the company that organized her show.
All the fuss is because of Madonna’s actions on the stage. The pop diva started her show asking fans to raise their hands with pink bracelets, which they were given on the entrance, in support of homosexual rights.
It is, however, illegal to promote homosexuality in St. Petersburg. The local law, which bans so-called “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors,” was passed in March this year.
Activists claim the pop star broke this law. Moreover, they say children as young as 12 were at the concert, prompting the question, why were they there?
The complaint also includes a video taken of the concert that depicts Madonna allegedly stomping on an Orthodox cross.
“She insulted believers’ feelings, she promoted homosexuality when there were children at the concert and this is forbidden in St Petersburg. We, the residents of the cultural capital, suffered a colossal moral damage,” union spokesperson Darya Dedova was quoted as saying.
However, Madonna has not still responded to any of the complaints, nor did she appear in court.
The first hearing into the $10 million lawsuit took place on October 11, but it was postponed until October 25. Plaintiffs did not know Madonna’s address in the US and thus were unable to notify the pop star.
At the same time, there are some details which may weaken the activist’ position in court.
First, all tickets contained a recommendation saying that only over-18s should attend the concert. In such a case, parents of minors are responsible for allowing them to be there and seeing what they saw.
Second, there is video evidence which, however, was shot without any official permission, itself a violation.
According to a recently-adopted St Petersburg law, if the defendant is found guilty she will have to pay an additional 50 per cent of the ordered compensation as a fine that will go to the city budget, Dedova said. The union promised to use the money to protect city residents from homosexuality and pedophilia.
This law, which is only in force in St. Petersburg, caused a string of protests from Russian and international gay rights organizations, with one Russian activist even suing its author over damage to his reputation.
A gay rights activist speaks with a police officer as she holds a poster reading " I don't care about Madonna and her support!" near a concert hall before the concert of Madonna in St. Petersburg on August 9, 2012.
A local activist Yury Gavrikov holds a poster near a concert hall before the concert of Madonna in St. Petersburg on August 9, 2012
Source
Russian anti-gay activists send Madonna official summons
Antigay Russian activists have obtained Madonna’s home address in New York City and sent her a summons to show up at a Russian court. Nine plaintiffs are desperate to make "Madge" pay after suffering “moral damages” at her gig in St. Petersburg.
Another summons was issued to the address of Madonna’s gym Hard Candy in central Moscow. However, gym staff insist they have not received any letter from St. Petersburg, and thus can’t inform their Big Boss.
The pro-Kremlin group Trade Union of Russian Citizens wants the Material Girl in court for blasphemy and for damaging the cultural foundations of St. Petersburg. Nine activists filed a suit against the pop star after her concert on August 9. They are seeking 333 million rubles (around US$10 million) from Madonna and from the company that organized her show.
All the fuss is because of Madonna’s actions on the stage. The pop diva started her show asking fans to raise their hands with pink bracelets, which they were given on the entrance, in support of homosexual rights.
It is, however, illegal to promote homosexuality in St. Petersburg. The local law, which bans so-called “propaganda of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors,” was passed in March this year.
Activists claim the pop star broke this law. Moreover, they say children as young as 12 were at the concert, prompting the question, why were they there?
The complaint also includes a video taken of the concert that depicts Madonna allegedly stomping on an Orthodox cross.
“She insulted believers’ feelings, she promoted homosexuality when there were children at the concert and this is forbidden in St Petersburg. We, the residents of the cultural capital, suffered a colossal moral damage,” union spokesperson Darya Dedova was quoted as saying.
However, Madonna has not still responded to any of the complaints, nor did she appear in court.
The first hearing into the $10 million lawsuit took place on October 11, but it was postponed until October 25. Plaintiffs did not know Madonna’s address in the US and thus were unable to notify the pop star.
At the same time, there are some details which may weaken the activist’ position in court.
First, all tickets contained a recommendation saying that only over-18s should attend the concert. In such a case, parents of minors are responsible for allowing them to be there and seeing what they saw.
Second, there is video evidence which, however, was shot without any official permission, itself a violation.
According to a recently-adopted St Petersburg law, if the defendant is found guilty she will have to pay an additional 50 per cent of the ordered compensation as a fine that will go to the city budget, Dedova said. The union promised to use the money to protect city residents from homosexuality and pedophilia.
This law, which is only in force in St. Petersburg, caused a string of protests from Russian and international gay rights organizations, with one Russian activist even suing its author over damage to his reputation.
A gay rights activist speaks with a police officer as she holds a poster reading " I don't care about Madonna and her support!" near a concert hall before the concert of Madonna in St. Petersburg on August 9, 2012.
A local activist Yury Gavrikov holds a poster near a concert hall before the concert of Madonna in St. Petersburg on August 9, 2012
Source
jfc :(
except for the pedophilia thing ofc
I would suggest going to smaller city like Nizhy Novogorod, Ekaterinaburg, or even going to a more rural area. Rural towns are awesome, but much more influenced by communism.
The only thing that sucks is Internet is pretty non-existent. I'm talking 12.6 bit if you're lucky enough to can get it.
I really wouldn't be too concerned about skinheads unless you're not white. Then...probably don't go. There are too many cases of people missing. However, I a knew an African-American getting his PhD there and he loves it, but I'm sure he has his moments of frustration.
As to treatment of minorities, racism and homophobia are obviously existent. There is actually a small, but vibrant gay scene in Petersburg and quite a few people on my program are gay. Russia, I've noticed, tends to be on a don't ask don't tell policy when it comes to homosexuality, meaning that despite all other signs, they'll assume everyone is completely straight until proven otherwise.
Granted, people's attitudes toward race and ethnic minorities are, in general, quite unfortunate, but then again it's not like racism doesn't also exist in America. However, most of the racism that exists is targeted toward people of the caucauses. as to whether it's actually dangerous, i would say that while there is the occasional horror story, you'll find that most russians are actually afraid to fuck with poc.
Edited at 2012-10-17 10:48 pm (UTC)
so fucked
However -and do NOT take this as some sort of declaration that I'm on the activists' side, because I'm not- if Madonna really did stomp on an Orthodox Cross, she should not just get away with that. I don't care how much a person disagrees with a church's views, religious intolerance is still intolerance.
The St. Petersburg law is still fucked up, though.
Edited at 2012-10-17 04:08 pm (UTC)
Relious tolerance does not include the obligation to pay respect to religious symbols.
As long as Madonna doesn't force other people to stomp on crosses, she can do whatever she wants with them.
Basically these people sued because the maximum fine for breaking this law is only a couple hundred dollars, and now they're trying to justify asking for more money.
What is offensive to me (as a very non-religious person) is that she did it more for attention than for the sake of her beliefs or to take a stance against the church. I kind of feel like she is exploiting the whole subject just so she can get some publicity. People praise her a lot for being able to get attention, but she usually goes about it in such a cheap way. Like, no shit, you're going to get attention if you go a place full of religious people and do something they consider blasphemous. Congratulations?
Edited at 2012-10-17 10:01 pm (UTC)