Russia’s basic prosecutor on Thursday banned the actions of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, accusing it of taking a destructive stance in the direction of international locations like Russia that shield “traditional spiritual and moral values”.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned the ban utilized particularly to 2 non-governmental organizations, one registered within the United States and the opposite in Britain and each known as the Elton John AIDS Foundation. It formally designated them as “undesirable organizations.”
The basis was arrange by Elton John, the homosexual British singer and songwriter who up to now has given sell-out live shows in Russia and spoken out in opposition to what he has mentioned is unacceptable discrimination in opposition to homosexual individuals by the Russian authorities.
President Vladimir Putin has rejected such assertions. He has solid Russia as a bastion of “traditional values” locked in an existential wrestle with a decadent West.
The Elton John AIDS Foundation mentioned it was “devastated” by the choice, which it mentioned would forestall it from offering lifesaving care to individuals residing with HIV in Russia.
“For more than two decades, we have worked in collaboration with federal and non-governmental partners in Russia to provide hundreds of thousands of people with vital HIV services, including testing, treatment, and care,” it mentioned in a press release.
“This work is urgent: in 2024, there were over 1.2 million people living with HIV in Russia, with over 430,000 not receiving treatment. Today’s decision…will undoubtedly endanger lives and disrupt critical HIV prevention efforts.”
The prosecutor’s workplace solid the muse as a malign affect on Russian society on its official Telegram channel.
“When a musician plays along with the promoters of democracy, you get propaganda. And if Elton John is at the piano, it is not just anti-Russian propaganda,” it mentioned.
“The NGOs actively participate in an information campaign orchestrated by the ‘collective West’ to discredit traditional values and escalate social tensions,” it added.
In a separate assertion on its web site, the prosecutor’s workplace complained in regards to the basis’s promotion of “non-traditional sexual relationships, Western family models, and gender reassignment”.
Without citing examples, the assertion accused the muse of collaborating in what it known as a Western marketing campaign to “denigrate Russia” over its struggle in Ukraine, which the prosecutor known as a “special military operation”.
Putin has inspired ladies to have at the least three youngsters to battle a beginning charge dip within the nation, and a 2022 legislation widened a ban on “LGBT propaganda” to successfully ban any public expressions relating to homosexuality.
In November, Russia’s decrease home of parliament voted unanimously to ban what authorities solid as pernicious propaganda for a child-free lifestyle.
In a mission assertion on its web site, the Elton John AIDS Foundation mentioned it had raised greater than $600 million to assist over 3,100 tasks in 95 international locations globally to extend entry to well being care, sort out LGBTQ+ stigma, and finish AIDS.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.