Halsey Bravely Stands Up to Russia's Anti-LGBT Laws During Moscow Concert

Bisexual pop star Halsey is in the throes of her worldwide hopeless fountain kingdom tour and performed in Moscow, Russia yesterday to a sold out stadium.

Halsey, whose following is largely young queer people, understood the significance of the thousands of people cheering her name in the aggressively conservative country and showed overwhelming support for her LGBT audience, including hanging up a rainbow flag on stage.

It was reported earlier this year that Chechnyan authorities have been arresting men who are suspected to be gay. Over 100 men have been kept in secret concentration camps and were beaten, tortured, ransomed, and forced to out other homosexuals. Russian leaders have repeatedly denied these events, claiming "you cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic."

Halsey's defiance in the face of persecution feels more important than ever and incredibly brave. At one point in the concert, she spoke to the audience, "If there's someone in your life that is making you feel like shit, that is making you feel like you cannot be the person you want to be, I want you to think about them right now. Think about that person, okay. I'm gonna count to three and you're going to tell that person to fuck off. You ready?" As she counts down to three, the stadium shakes with a resounding "FUCK OFF."

Halsey later took to Instagram to express her love and support of the Russian LGBT community.

 

I'm out in Moscow and feelin unlucky. Scared the police gonna keep me in custody. And all these kids love me, but Russia don't fuck with me. Cause I wrote some songs about women who fuck with me, I got a rainbow 10 feet up above me. and this what I meant when I said that they shush me. But no one can judge me. Expect no less of me. In all of these faces, there's greatness among me. I love you Moscow, you were badass tonight.

A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey) on Aug 22, 2017 at 1:27pm PDT

The caption reads: 

I'm out in Moscow 
and feelin unlucky.
Scared the police gonna 
keep me in custody.
And all these kids love me,
but Russia don't fuck with me. 
Cause I wrote some songs 
about women who fuck with me, 
I got a rainbow 10 feet up above me. 
and this what I meant 
when I said that they shush me. 
But no one can judge me.
Expect no less of me.
In all of these faces,
there's greatness among me.
I love you Moscow, you were badass tonight.

Halsey's defiance is a powerful testament to the healing power of pop stars and music, but there's still a lot of work to do. Click here if you want to get involved with helping the people of Chechnya. 

 

Soldiers. Спасибо.

A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey) on Aug 22, 2017 at 1:42pm PDT