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Anti-Gay Groups Call on Russian Officials to Ban Elton John Concert for "supporting sodomites"

Sir Elton John

By Brody Levesque | MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian anti-gay groups are calling on the Putin government to ban two upcoming December concerts by openly gay British Pop artist Sir Elton John.

The executive director of the Star Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, Yuri Ageshchev, told Russian media outlets,

"The statement by this gay guy — Elton John — about his support for gays and other perverts during the upcoming concert in Moscow is an insult to all Russian citizens," Ageshchev said adding; 

"It also makes a mockery of our recently enacted law against the public propaganda of gay ideas."

The outrage over the pop star's scheduled appearance in the semi-autonomous Republic of Tatarstan's capital city of Kazan, in south central Russia, was echoed by the Ural Parents Committee, a group of conservative activists, who wrote an open letter to Russian President Putin saying;

“The singer intends to come out in support of local sodomites and break the current Russian law, directed at protecting children.”

Ageshchev appealed to Russian Orthodox church authorities and ordinary citizens to oppose Elton John's Dec. 6 show at Moscow's Crocus City Music Hall, which he called an "amoral sabbath."

John has said he wants to perform in Russia to support the Russian LGBTQ community.

“As a gay man, I can’t leave those people on their own without going over there and supporting them. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve got to go,” he told British Media last week. He is scheduled to perform on 6 December in Moscow and 7 December in Kazan.