A film project, Live and let love, highlights the plight facing many LGBT people in Russia in the run up to the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi.
Director and conductor of the project, Sean Kelly has been in London during the last week to premier the film and conduct an interview with CNN.
In the film thousands of Swedes sing the Russian National Anthem in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in support of LGBT people in Russian.
Last year the Russian Parliament passed a law prohibiting ‘gay propaganda’ which has caused public opinion in Russia to move against LGBT people creating more discrimination for them.
This new law means that schools are not allowed to teach about homosexuality, gay couples can’t hold hands in public without facing police enforcement or being abused by citizens, freedom of speech has gone and people are being forced back into the closet.
Sean said: “The Russian Anthem is one of the world’s most beautiful anthems, filled with pride, melancholy and strength to show the true sentiment of the Russian people. Although not every Russian feels proud when they hear it.
“For many Russians the song has been a symbol of oppression. However, the lyrics of the song were changed in year 2000 and in 2009 a poll showed that 56% of respondents felt proud when hearing the anthem, and that 81% liked it.
“Still there are many Russia people, who are not able to sing the song with pride, among them many millions of LGBT people. It is their anthem too, but the state is criminalizing their lives.”
Singer and choir conductor Sean Kelly suggested filming a mass protest using the Russian National Anthem, making it a proud song for people of all colours and orientations, singing for those who can’t.
A website was set up with lyrics, sheet music and music files for people to practice to. The choirs of Stockholm were contacted and asked to join the project. A Facebook event was created that thousands of people liked and shared, ending up with 2000 singer coming together in the Olympic Stadium of Stockholm where the summer Olympic Games were held in 1912, on October 6 last year.
In the film, we see people of all colours and orientations; gay couples, straight couples, best friends, rainbow families and the thousands of allies to the idea that being LGBT is perfectly normal and should be embraced fully by the people.
Sean continued: “The rainbow flag is not forbidden in the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm; on the contrary we were more than welcomed by the City of Stockholm, owner of the Stadium. The LGBT issue has finally become an issue of human rights and since the LGBT community percentage wise is so small, it is important to have allies who will fight for the human rights of all LGBT people. This is happening in many countries, which is great news, however many countries are moving in the opposite direction. Russia being one of them along with many African countries.”
People around the world are encouraged to create their own rainbow version of the Russian National Anthem and publish on YouTube to make it the Rainbow Anthem of the future.
To view the video, CLICK HERE:
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