Sir Elton John: ‘Hatred has come to the surface’
Elton John has called the Russian president a hypocrite (Getty Images)
Sir Elton John has spoken about the after-effects of Brexit and the current political climate that is making him dislike Britain.
The music legend described the atmosphere of anti-gay rhetoric to hatred bubbling up to the surface.
He told the Observer: “You know, I don’t like it here at the moment, to be honest. I don’t like the hatred here. It’s like David said recently, it’s like a boil has been lanced that was there for a long time and suddenly all this hatred has come to the surface.
“People have been OK about gay marriage and things like that and suddenly they’re not. I have never, ever thought this of this country until now.
“I was always proud to come from here and to live here, because there are different opposing views about everything but it’s a pretty civilised place. At the moment, though, it’s not, and I don’t like it. It’s horrible.”
Sir John has always condemned homophobia in Russia, but described people he had met in the country as “decent, kind, patriotic men and women who had no thought of forcing their sexuality on anyone.”
“I remember going to Moscow when the gay scene was rampant and you’d go to this club in Moscow where nude boys would be swimming though a tank and stuff like that. Then the mayor of St Petersburg started taking books out of libraries and clamping down.”
In the interview he reflected on the global rise of homophobia: “It’s just extraordinary. We live in very strange times, but there are voices of reason and they need to be heard.”
