HRC Blog

Post submitted by Adam Bradley, HRC Communications Intern 

In an interview with Canadian magazine Maclean’s, Cher revealed that she turned down the opportunity to open the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, citing the “gay hate” emanating from Russia in recent months as her motivation.

The singer/actress has been an outspoken LGBT advocate for decades. She explained that she relates strongly to people on the fringes of society because of the way she and co-star Sonny were treated earlier in their careers.

“People hated Sonny and I in the early days because we looked and acted so different,” Cher said. “Sonny was always getting into fights—people would call him ‘fag’ and he’d get his nose broken—only because we were dressing different.”

To learn more about HRC's work alongside the Russian LGBT community and others across the globe in the fight to expose and repeal Russia's anti-LGBT law, visit www.hrc.org/russia.