In New York City, four members of the LGBT-rights group Queer Nation disrupted the Oct. 10 performance of the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, led by conductor Valery Gergiev, demanding that Gergiev oppose the Russian government’s attacks on LGBT Russians and that Russia end its war on LGBT Russians, according to a press release.
According to a Queer Nation press release, Gergiev, the artistic and general director at the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, is a friend and supporter of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and has been honored by the Russian government and by the Russian Orthodox Church, both supporters of Russia’s anti-gay laws.
Queer Nation members chanted, “Gergiev, your silence is killing Russian gays!” before the Carnegie Hall performance began. The protesters, who were met mostly with applause but also with some boos, were led away by security guards; there were no arrests.
On Sept. 23, four protestors from Queer Nation delayed the start of the Metropolitan Opera’s opening-night gala at Lincoln Center, where Gergiev conducted Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.