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With so much talk of Russia and gay rights in the news as of late, what is really going on over there and do we – as Americans – really need to get involved? The answer is a resounding: Yes. I could give you a long and sordid explanation of what is going on right now in Russia, but I am going to make this very simple and tell it to you straight: Gay bashing is legal there. Right now. In 2013. Gay bashing. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the “Gay Propaganda Bill,” essentially making it illegal to rally publicly in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and causes. Additionally, gay adoption and samesex marriage were also on the chopping block – exterminated before they even began to fight. In a bold statement sent Monday to civil rights group Queer Nation, 23 leading LGBT Russian activists and their supporters called for a broad boycott of Russian products and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. The statement read, in part: “We speak out in favor of boycotting Russian goods and companies and the Olympic Games in Sochi. International support is essential for the survival of Russia’s LGBT community right now. We appreciate and support all attempts to let the Russian authorities know that homophobic and inhumane laws will not go unnoticed and that Vladimir Putin’s regime will not get away with anti-gay violence.” But the violence in Russia will not dissipate because we stop drinking Russian vodka. It will not cease because we opt to boycott the Olympic Games. Will a boycott cause economic impact on Russia and its people? Almost certainly. But will it stop Putin from beating our anti-gay brothers and sisters to a pulp for the simple act of being gay? Not a chance. Still, it is one small thing that we can do as Americans to stand up and protest a barbaric law that can
only bring about pain, violence and shame to our brothers and sisters there. Imagine what it would be like to hold hands with your boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, wife, or husband in the company of your own home with a friend or two sitting nearby. Now, imagine that friend is 17 and you and your partner are 20, 21…etc. When the Russian authorities discover that you and your partner were participating in gay propaganda in front of a minor, you are immediately hauled off in handcuffs, beaten and absolutely horrified because you are poisoning a young person’s mind displaying your homosexuality. This really happened…and continues to happen. Being gay publicly in any way, shape or form is illegal. Period. So, what can you do about this violence? What can you do to stop the attacks on innocent people in a country Sarah Palin can see from her house? You stand up and you fight. You boycott if that is what you are able to do. But you have to do something.
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Interview by Jonathon Clarke of iHeart Radio
Cher is gearing up to release her first new album in twelve years, and if new single "Woman's World" is any indication of what's to come, the icon continues to get better with time.
What are your thoughts on the recent Supreme Court decision [to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act]? I actually am surprised that they ever had to turn over something that was this stupid. I'm always shocked by people who want to keep people from being who they are, and want to decide what's right, and want to decide who can do what and who can't do what. So of course I was overjoyed, but I just don’t understand why they had to turn over something so crazy: an individual human right that should be a right of people. We're supposed to have equality and yet it’s only for some people.
"Woman's World" is currently at #2 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and forthcoming album - her 26th! - Closer To The Truth is due out September 24th. Credits on the album include P!nk, who wrote two songs, a collaboration with Jake Shears of the Scossor Sisters, and Our forefathers came here so they could be free to do producers such as Timbaland. what they felt, feel what they wanted and have the religion that they wanted and yet, some of those people, it's like iHeartRadio's Jonathan Clarke sat down with Cher to talk "we got ours, you can't have yours." about the new music, her thoughts on legalizing gay marriage, why she was scared to perform on "The Voice" and more. Check out the interview below. How did it feel getting back in the studio?It's scary, but I'm always like a chicken when I go to be in the studio because... I don’t know why. I don’t think it's my best place but sometimes it is. Like in the Believe album, I felt great and was confident and I had such a good time. And on this one too, I had a great time. I worked with some people I’d never worked with before... I just got great songs. Talk about the first single, "Woman's World" - a lyrically empowering track.Anthemic. I don't think we thought it was going to be this... it really did sing itself. It didn't even take an hour. It was about a four, five take thing... "Turn Back Time" was like that. I walked in the studio and I actually didn’t want to do it. Diane Warren just said "I’ll pay for it." And she’s so cheap, I thought, boy, if she believes in it that much, I'm doing it." So, I just walked in and I did it in two seconds and she said, "see I told you so."
You performed on "The Voice" this season. What’s it like to get back on stage? Do you just love that? No. "The Voice" was so scary, I cannot tell you. Because I haven’t made a record in eleven years, and so to go straight out on "The Voice" was really scary, because in three minutes, you’re going to be the greatest invention of yourself, re-invention of yourself or you should get to the home immediately. Three minutes would be the end of my career, or the beginning of another career. But how did it go, at the end of the day?I think it was good. I didn't watch it, but I think people seem to like it. I will just tell you what my mother said. She said, "Honey, you owned the stage. You just walked out really cool and it was great!" Is there a musical coming out based on your life on Broadway?They had written one and they're holding it right now. They have this idea - which I think is really cool
must have gathered things from Marlene Dietrich, like her
gold outfit. It was harder for me because, I couldn't find myself anywhere in what was going on when I was young growing up. I wasn't Doris Day, I was so different. But I think now, some of us have gone before, have allowed the girls now to be totally free and everything is open. I used to get in trouble for a lot of things that I did. I was the first woman to be able to show her navel on television! It's nothing, but every time you break a barrier, you allow someone else to go through it.
- they’re going to have three Chers: the young one, the middle one and the one now. They talk to each other and they'll sing together and it will just show how I evolve. They’re still writing it. You've done an album in every sort of musical format. What does Cher listen to? I love Adele. I love P!nk that's kind of a given. I like the new Daft Punk. I also listen to Merle [Haggard], and Willy [Nelson] and Taylor Swift, and Tony Bennett... I miss Amy Winehouse. I also love musicals - old musicals from the forties. I've done a lot of different kinds of music because there's a song in every genre that I like. You've definitely inspired many powerful female performers throughout your career. Do you ever look at them and think, "Hey, imitation is a greatest form of flattery"? I believe we are all gathering things from the universe. You might not think that you've done it; I did it. I
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