Russia outlaws Elton John AIDS Foundation

The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation declared Elton John's AIDS Foundation as "undesirable organizations."

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Richard Mushet on Flickr, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Elton John

"The organization supports public associations for the prevention and fight against AIDS among the most vulnerable groups (LGBT advocates, individuals with drug addiction). It also helps combat discrimination against HIV-positive individuals and those with non-traditional views. However, to a greater extent, it focuses on promoting non-traditional sexual relationships, Western family models, and gender transition. It also holds a negative stance toward the countries that uphold traditional spiritual and moral values. Since the start of the special military operation, it has participated in information campaign to discredit Russia," the Office of the Prosecutor General said. 

The department clarified that non-governmental organizations, under the guise of humanitarian projects, closely interact with international institutions promoting the idea of ​​an economic blockade of Russia.

It goes about two organisations - the US and British branches of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Both of them have thus been declared "undesirable" in Russia.

Putin called Elton John genius, but criticised him too

In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin called British singer and LGBTQ rights advocate Elton John a genius. However, Putin noted that the musician was mistaken in his views.

"I have great respect for him; he is a brilliant musician, and we all enjoy listening to his music. But I think he is mistaken," Putin said at a press conference following the G20 summit, responding to journalists' requests to comment on the singer’s remarks about the Russian leader's alleged hypocrisy on LGBTQ issues.

"I haven't twisted anything here. We really do have a very neutral attitude toward members of the LGBTQ community," Putin noted. "In reality, it is an absolutely calm and unbiased attitude."

He reminded that Russia's law banning the promotion of homosexuality among minors met criticism in many countries of the world, although the purpose of the law was to protect minors against reckless actions and decisions.

"Let people grow up, become adults, and then decide who they are. Leave children alone. They have come up with five or six genders, I don’t even understand what that is anymore," the president said in 2019.

According to him, the problem is that liberal ideologists aggressively impose their views on the overwhelming majority.

Elton John had expressed disappointment over Putin’s 2019 interview with The Financial Times, in which the Russian leader claimed that liberalism had outlived its usefulness. In a series of tweets, the singer stated that he strongly disagreed with Putin’s assertion that multiculturalism and the concept of multiple genders and sexual orientations had become outdated and lost relevance in modern society.

Details

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with or at risk of HIV. It has raised over $565 million to support HIV-related programs across ninety countries. The Elton John AIDS Foundation is in the top 10 philanthropic funders of HIV/AIDS grants worldwide, the second largest HIV-related philanthropic funder of LGBTQ+ communities, and number one philanthropic funder in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The organization supports its work through proceeds from special events, cause-related marketing projects, and voluntary contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations.