Here's How Russian News Channels Deal With LGBT Activists

Bolstered by the rainbow-stripped suspenders he put on to mark his solidarity with Russia's LGBT community, journalist James Kirchick went on Russia Today (RT), a news channel funded by the Russian government, to take a stand against Russia's new, anti-gay laws earlier today. While he was brought on to talk about the recent ruling in the Bradley Manning case, Kirchick refused to acknowledge the topic. Instead, he admonished the Kremlin-funded station for doing lip service to freedom, while pushing the Kremlin’s anti-gay agenda.

Kirchick adjusted his suspenders proudly, leaned back in his chair, and said, “Being here on a Kremlin-funded propaganda network, I’m going to wear my gay pride suspenders and speak out against the horrific, anti-gay legislation that Vladimir Putin has signed into law.” When one of the hosts tried to steer him back, unsuccessfully, to the topic of Manning, Kirchick responded, “You have 24 hours to lie about America. I am going to tell the truth with my two minutes.” You can watch the interview below:

Fed up with Kirchick’s protests, the network cut him off the air, and stranded him on the side of the road. After the interview, Kirchick tweeted:

Meanwhile, one of RT’s hosts delivered an apology to their viewers, saying, “We invited a guest on to discuss the fate of the whistle-blower, but he used the chance to discuss his views on other unrelated issues, and that’s why we had to take him off air. We would like to say sorry for any confusion caused.”