New York Times: Andrew Miller, a member of the group Queer Nation, which was involved in the protests against Mr. Gergiev at the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall, said: “The issue is not whether Valery Gergiev has gay friends or co-workers, but rather that he has been an ardent supporter of Vladimir Putin, for whom he campaigned. It is Putin’s anti-L.G.B.T. laws, which have essentially made being gay illegal in Russia and led to arrests of and horrific violence against gay Russians, that he must denounce if he wants to be a true friend of the L.G.B.T. community. Until then, he is merely Putin’s collaborator.”
“The demonstrators who yelled from the upper reaches of the house before the performance began were probably the most startling aspects of this pedestrian evening.”
“We didn’t know what to expect,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager. “A few voices can make a lot of noise. Lucky for us, they made their noise respectfully, and it didn’t disrupt the music.”
We broke the “code of silence” engendered by a “feast of anal retention.”
ALSO: The AP and Times stories ran in dozens of papers and on tens of radio stations in the U.S. and Canada, including USA Today. Story was also found it on the Namibia Press Agency’s website and in the Taiwan News.
Later this month, Queer Nation will be executing a zap to Coca-Cola urging them to break their silence on their sponsorship of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Our demand: That Coca-Cola denounce Russia’s anti-LGBT laws and extend its anti-discrimination policies protecting LGBT employees to all countries in which it does business —including Russia.
Details for the action — including what you can do to spread the word via social media — are forthcoming. Stay tuned!
Immediately after the Queer Nation meeting on 9/19, we will proceed to the finale of the Most Original Stoli Guy contest at:
289 10th Avenue @ West 27th Street Thursday, Sept. 19th at 8:00 PM
We will set up a picket protesting Russian vodka Stolichnaya, the sponsor of the event run by GayCities, the parent company of Queerty.com. Stolichnaya is one of the Russian products being boycotted by the LGBT community.
Please bring anti-Stoli signs to the meeting. Those who cannot attend the meeting can still protest with us at Marquee at 8:30 PM.
The Met Strikes a Homophobic Chord:
Our upcoming action at the Metropolitan Opera’s Opening Night Gala is on Monday, September 23, at 5:30 PM.
We will be planning the logistics of a picket and flyering outside the opera house to protest the appearance of two pro-Putin artists, soprano Anna Netrebko and conductor Valery Gergiev, at a performance of Eugene Onegin, an opera by gay Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky.
==
See you at the Queer Nation meeting on Thursday 9/19 at The Center!
