Photos: LGBT Activists Protest Putin Supporters At NYC Opera’s Opening Night

Amid ball gowns and tuxedos, LGBT activists Monday night were, for a short while at least, the main attraction. The 129th season opening of New York City’s Metropolitan Opera at the iconic Lincoln Center was the backdrop to more drama: a protest over the Met featuring Russian artists who support Vladimir Putin, and by extension, the Russian president’s war on gays.

“Four Queer Nation NY members disrupted the Metropolitan Opera’s Opening Night Gala, demanding that pro-Putin Russian performers at the Gala—and the Met itself—end their silence on the Kremlin’s attacks on LGBT Russians,” a press release read.

But even before that, lined up outside the opera, holding a long rainbow banner that read, “Support Russian Gays!,” dozens of activists and allies joined the early evening pre-theatre protest.

Their message must have gotten through.

Patrick Stewart appeared, with a rainbow lapel pin. Other celebrities were not as prepared. Dan Stevens was there, as were Bryan Batt, Mischa Barton, Placido Domingo, Patricia Clarkson, Heather Graham, and many more.

The New York Times covered the inside action this way:

After the lights dimmed for the Metropolitan Opera’s Russian-themed opening night gala on Monday evening, the first solo voice that rang out in the house was not of a tenor or soprano, but of a protester criticizing the recent antigay laws signed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

“Putin, end your war on Russian gays!” a man shouted in the vast auditorium, which was packed for the black-tie gala opening of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” before turning to two of the evening’s Russian stars: Anna Netrebko, the popular Russian diva, and Valery Gergiev, the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. “Anna, your silence is killing Russian gays! Valery, your silence is killing Russian gays!”

Some members of the audience tried to shush the protester, as security guards walked into the house. After a pause, the opera began.

Peter Gelb, the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, responded in a Bloomberg op-ed.

While I’m confident that many members of our company join me in personally deploring the tyranny of Russia’s new anti-gay laws, we’re also opposed to the laws of the 76 countries that go even further than Russia in the outright criminalization of homosexuality.

We stand against the significant human rights abuses that take place every day in many countries. But as an arts institution, the Met is not the appropriate vehicle for waging nightly battles against the social injustices of the world.

Over the course of our nine-month season, artists from dozens of different countries — some with poor human rights records — will be performing at the Met. If we were to devote tonight’s performance to Russian injustice, how could we possibly stop there?

The message of opposing Putin and his war on the LGBT community was heard loud and clear — no doubt, all the way to the Kremlin.

Look:

 

 

Image, top, by RUSA LGBT via Twitter