Like a punk prayer

Pussy Riot and the LGBT community hope music icon Madonna will speak out in support of them during her visit to Russia.

By Sergey Chernov

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: August 8, 2012 (Issue # 1721)

PMI Many expect Madonna to speak out against the city’s gay propaganda law as she promised to in March.

Pop music fans are not the only ones eagerly anticipating the visit of American music icon Madonna, who is performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg this week as part of her MDNA tour in support of her twelfth studio album of the same name.

The imprisoned women of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot, currently on trial in Moscow, and their supporters are hoping for the pop superstar’s backing, while the Russian LGBT community is waiting for her to voice her opinion against the infamous anti-gay propaganda law as she promised to on Facebook earlier this year.

But will she? Despite being known for taking a political stance on many issues, a recent television interview with Madonna on a Russian television channel unveiled her ignorance concerning the Pussy Riot case — already a big issue in the international media and music community.

Madonna also did not make any statements about Russian LGBT rights after March, when she promised to speak about the issue at her concert in St. Petersburg amid the outrage concerning the law banning the “promotion of sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality and transgenderism to the minors.” The law was signed by city governor Georgy Poltavchenko in early March.

Whether Madonna, who has described herself as a “freedom fighter,” will speak on behalf of Pussy Riot and the LGBT community at her Russian concerts was not known when this paper went to print. Her Moscow concert was due to take place on Tuesday, while her St. Petersburg performance is scheduled for Thursday. But both hopes and opposition are high.

The mind behind the city’s controversial anti-gay propaganda law is Vitaly Milonov, a St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly deputy, who drafted the law in November 2011.

Milonov, a parish council member of a local Orthodox church who described himself as a “church man” in an interview with The St. Petersburg Times earlier this year, voiced his disapproval of Madonna and promised to monitor her August show for signs of “gay propaganda.” The LGBT community then reacted by creating a satiric character, “Milonna,” which combines features of the United Russia deputy and the pop diva.

Internet blogs were full of mock announcements and photo collages made from photos of Madonna and Milonov.

One blogger, who goes by the moniker of “Alex,” wrote that Milonna would perform instead of Madonna in the city on Aug. 9, presenting a show featuring an Orthodox dance troupe from the Narodny Sobor (People’s Assembly), the nationalist Orthodox group that supported Milonov.

In May, the local gay club Malevich held a series of adults-only “Milonna” parties, with an Internet ad showing an iconic image of Madonna with Milonov’s bespectacled face photoshopped into the picture instead of hers. It urged guests to dress up as the character.

“We’ll warn those in charge of organizing her concerts that everything should be decent,” Milonov told Interfax Religion in early July. “Otherwise, they will face the strict laws of St. Petersburg. I heard that she pulls off her tights at concerts on this tour — we don’t want that here.”

LGBT rights activists reacted by bringing a poster reading “Milonna, pull your tights off” to a gay rights protest near City Hall on July 7.

Earlier this week, PMI, the concerts’ organizers, said that there were still no official warnings from Milonov.

However, a Milonov supporter, Anatoly Artyukh, the local leader of Narodny Sobor, said that his nationalist Orthodox organization’s activists would monitor Madonna’s show for “decency.”

Last week, Milonov told Interfax that the activists would document everything at the concert, “so that nobody can escape punishment.”

Despite what some sources may have said, the singer herself had not heard about Pussy Riot until recently.

In a recent television interview with the state-run NTV television, Madonna admitted that she did not know about the group, three of whose members are on trial for their anti-Putin “punk prayer,” which they performed in a church, and its high-profile case.

“Pussy Riot? No. It’s a cool name,” she replied to a question asking if she knew about Pussy Riot. She was surprised to hear that they were in prison. “Are they in jail? For doing what?” Madonna asked.

Broadcasted on July 27, the interview only had her saying that she was “sorry that they’ve been arrested” — after interviewer Anton Volsky briefly informed her about the case.

On Monday, Madonna showed more knowledge speaking to Reuters Television in Moscow, calling the case “unfair” and saying that jailing Pussy Riot for seven years would be a “tragedy.”

“I think art should be political. Historically speaking, art always reflects what’s going on socially. So for me, it’s hard to separate the idea of being an artist and being political,” she said.

So far Pussy Riot has been supported by Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Peter Gabriel, Sting and other artists. The number is continuing to grow.

Over the last week, during which the trial has been taking place, dozens of artists have spoken out and petitioned on behalf of Pussy Riot, including musicians Patti Smith, John Lydon, Nina Hagen, Kate Nash, Pete Townshend as well as film directors Terry Gilliam and Agnieszka Holland.

Artist Pyotr Verzilov, husband of imprisoned Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, said that since Madonna was interviewed on NTV, the singer has been fully informed about the case.

Speaking to The St. Petersburg Times early this week, Verzilov said that the NTV interview was shot in mid-July.

“Let’s see what kind of gesture she will finally decide to make during her stay in Russia.”

Verzilov said that Madonna’s support would mean something special, keeping in mind the hostile reaction she faced during her early career.

“Madonna went through a situation that is somewhat similar to what is happening to Pussy Riot when she started out in America, which was somewhat more conservative in the 1980s than it is now. Her modern-day cult status was, to a certain extent, caused by what she went through then. You can see some similarities between her situation and what is happening to Pussy Riot now.”

The Pussy Riot trial sounds like a cause for Madonna for other reasons as well. She has been met with protests from Orthodox radicals and ultranationalists, as well as from the Moscow Patriarchate, which recommended that believers not attend her concert when she first performed in Russia in 2006.

According to Verzilov, support from international artists for the imprisoned women cannot be overestimated.

“It’s absolutely important,” he said.

“They all were extremely happy to get letters from [Red Hot Chili Peppers’] Anthony Kiedis and [Franz Ferdinand’s] Alex Kapranos and everybody else. Nadya [Nadezhda Tolokonnikova] was especially pleased by the words that Nina Hagen said in an interview with [German broadcaster] Deutsche Welle, because she is a very big fan of hers. But everybody’s words of support were very pleasant for the girls.”

Apart from Pussy Riot, the LGBT community is also looking forward to Madonna’s concerts in Russia, especially the one in St. Petersburg.

In March, Madonna slammed St. Petersburg’s infamous “anti-gay propaganda” law as “a ridiculous atrocity” on her Facebook page and promised to “speak up for the gay community, to support the gay community and to give strength and inspiration to anyone who is or feels oppressed” at her local concert on Aug. 9.

The statement came two days after journalist Masha Gessen urged Madonna to boycott St. Petersburg because of the law on her blog on The New York Times’ website, and was seen as an indirect answer, although Gessen’s appeal was not mentioned.

Although Madonna has not addressed the issue since then, the local LGBT community believes she has not forgotten about her promise.

“Hardly so, because it’s still discussed a lot, I am sure her management team monitors the press, so I hope she has not forgotten about it and will speak about it at the concert,” said Igor Kochetkov, the chair of the Russian LGBT Network.

“She has many fans around the globe and, of course, if such a well-known person draws attention to the issue, it’s always important.”

However, some in the LGBT community were disappointed with Madonna ignoring the appeal to boycott St. Petersburg and see her promise as “slyness.”

Yury Gavrikov, the chair of Ravnopraviye (Equality), a LGBT rights group, said that protests were planned both in Moscow and St. Petersburg on the days of Madonna’s concerts.

“It’s a well-known secret that fees received by top stars in Russia are higher than anywhere else in the world; they can’t make this amount of money by playing in Europe,” Gavrikov said.

“She made a loud statement that she would be speaking out about human rights and criticizing the law on ‘gay propaganda,’ but in the recent NTV interview — where the issue was addressed — she spoke about it in a very moderate, restrained tone, almost as if in passing.”

Even if Madonna does speak about the issue during the concert, the boycott proposed by Gessen would be much more effective, Garvrikov argued.

“Cancellations of Russian concerts and a boycott of Russia by top stars on the grounds that human rights are not respected in this country — not only in regard to LGBT people, but on a broader scale, from freedom of speech to freedom of assembly — such a gesture would be stronger politically and more effective. There is a certain slyness in making a statement when you’re paid millions; ‘pay me and I’ll say something.’”

“When stars come to make money and, while doing this, speak about human rights, it’s nothing else but slyness.”

Gavrikov said that the boycott would be more efficient than any speeches made during concerts because of the effect it would have on the city’s budget.

“The cancellations will affect the city’s budget, which is not directed toward social needs anyway,” he said.

“It’s well-known that in the days when the governor signed the law into force, he turned down five social programs — from subsidies to large families to medical help for HIV-positive children.”

“The reasoning was that there were no funds in the budget, while the homophobic law was signed with the explanation that it would not demand any additional budget expenses. This kind of free law that supposedly protects children...it’s all sheer lies and slyness.”

Meanwhile, Orthodox and nationalist activists are also planning to picket Madonna’s St. Petersburg concert on Thursday, Interfax reported. Narodny Sobor activists and other groups said the protests are to be held outside the venue as well as by the nearest metro station, Park Pobedy.

Madonna will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 9 at Peterburgsky Sports and Concert Complex (SKK), located at 8 Prospekt Yuriya Gagarina. M. Park Pobedy. Tel. 388 1211.