Putin phones Elton John to discuss equality?

Less than 24 hours after Sir Elton John had offered to have a ‘sensible discussion’ with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the hopes of making him see sense on LGBTI rights, Sir Elton has confirmed through his official Instagram page the Russian leader has since been in touch.

“Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia,” stated John.

However according to the Guardian a spokesman for Vladimir Putin has contradicted the claim by the British singer and LGBT campaigner and has denied that the Russian president spoke by telephone to Sir Elton John.

Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was unsure how “authentic” a social media post from the star was in which he thanked the Russian leader for “reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today”.

“It’s probably pie in the sky … but if I meet him and say ‘let’s have a cup of tea and talk about this’, he may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can think I have the conscience to say I tried,” John said speaking with the BBC before their phone call.

“I’d say come on, gay people are not the problem here. They are not the problem of the world, the world faces much bigger problems than gay people. Don’t isolate and be prejudiced against gay people.”

Sir Elton has met with Ukraine President Poroshenko during his time as a speaker at the #YESUkraine2015 Conference in Kiev, to discuss the importance of changes to their legislation to support LGBTI rights.

“Specifically, I asked him to: 1. Ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity, and 2. Provide criminal penalties for hate crimes.”

The Kremlin has shown no indication so far, that it might be willing to back down from its stance on LGBTI rights.

Putin recently awarded a medal “for service to the fatherland” to one of Russia’s leading anti-gay politicians, Vitaly Milonov who is best known for his St Petersburg legislation, that served as a foundation for the controversial “gay propaganda” law banning the promotion of homosexuality among minors.

Last Updated on Sep 16, 2015