Madonna is sitting on an outstanding fine of $1 million from the Russian government after the star publicly supported LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
Although Russia decriminalised homosexuality decades ago, the country has remained socially conservative and, in 2012, the Moscow city government ordered that gay pride parades be banned for the next 100 years.
The following year, parliament unanimously passed a law forbidding “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships” among minors, in an apparent attempt to suppress the LGBTQ+ community.
During a stop in St. Petersburg in 2012, on the star’s MDNA Tour, Madonna delivered a moving speech between Open Your Heart and Masterpiece, in which she praised love and freedom and compared LGBTQ+ fights to Martin Luther King’s fights for equality.
The Justify My Love star added that gay people should be treated with love and dignity, insisting religion shouldn’t be used to promote hate or discrimination towards any group.
Taking to Twitter on Monday, Madonna shared a clip from the concert, and revealed the fine, writing: “I made this speech at a concert in St. Petersburg 8 years ago.
I made this speech at a concert in St. Petersburg 8 years ago. I was fined 1 million dollars by The government for supporting the Gay community.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 20, 2020
I never paid……………….. #freedomofspeech #powertothepeople#mdna https://t.co/6wH53V4aUn pic.twitter.com/LGhV5gUerc
“I was fined 1 million dollars by The government for supporting the Gay community,” she continued. “I never paid.”
The Vogue star included the hashtags “#freedomofspeech #powertothepeople #mdna”.
For the concert, which came following the Pride ban in the city, LGBTQ+ organisation Coming Out printed 330 rainbow posters with the slogan “No Fear,” that were distributed to the 25,000-strong crowd.
Recognising the gesture, Madonna told the crowd, “No Fear, that’s right,” before holding one of the banners up on stage during her performance of Like A Prayer.
Madonna has been a lifelong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and strived to educate fans on relevant issues. Amid years of activism, she notably included card insert along with her Like A Prayer album called “The Facts About AIDS,” providing objective education about the virus and reducing the stigma surrounding HIV.
She also supported Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell when both women came out as gay, and was last year honoured with the GLAAD Advocate for Change Award.
