“SUPPORT RUSSIAN GAYS!” the sign outside the high-society event declared, as Queer Nation NY and others protested — inside and outside — over the Met’s refusal to dedicate Monday night’s event to Russia’s LGBT population. One more front in the fight against Russia’s anti-LGBT laws.
In advance of tonight's Metropolitan Opera Gala, featuring Russian conductor Valery Gergiev and soprano Anna Netrebko in the performance of gay Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, supporters of LGBT people in Russia staged a protest.
Queer Nation NY, which led the protest, described the conductor and soprano as "longtime and vocal supporters of Vladimir Putin." Another composer, Andrew Rudin, had started a petition asking the Met to dedicate tonight's Gala to LGBT people in Russia.
The petition garnered more than 9,000 signatures:
