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The "Prison Break" star has rebuffed an offer to be honored at the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, citing Russia's recently passed anti-gay laws: "As a gay man, I must decline."
Prison Break star Wentworth Miller has come out as gay in a letter rejecting an offer to be honored at the St. Petersburg International Film Festival.
"As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline," Miller wrote in a letter to festival director Maria Averbakh.
He goes on to cite Russia's recent crackdown on gay, lesbian and transgendered people as his reason for declining the invitation.
"I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government," he writes. "The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly."
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed laws banning the promotion of gay, lesbian or bisexual lifestyles and making foreign tourists who are members of the LGBT community subject to arrest.
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Reposted from Hollywood Reporter.
To read the full article go to: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/wentworth-miller-comes-as-gay-611382/
Read the complete text of his letter below, which was posted on GLAAD's website.
Dear Ms. Averbakh:
Thank you for your kind invitation. As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes.
However, as a gay man, I must decline.
I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government. The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly.
Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve, I'll be free to make a different choice.
Until then.
Wentworth Miller
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