The Russian President said the West “cancelled” the controversial British author.
Vladimir Putin has defended J.K. Rowling during a speech condemning ‘cancel culture’ while claiming that the West is trying to cancel Russia.
The Russian president said the Harry Potter author was “cancelled” over her views on gender, warning the movement would soon move to works of great Russian composers like Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Dmitry Shostakovich.
“They cancelled Joanne Rowling recently – the children’s author, her books are published all over the world – just because she didn’t satisfy the demands of gender rights,” Putin said during a televised meeting with cultural figures.
He continued:
“They are now trying to cancel our country. I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia.”
Putin went on to liken “cancel culture” to Nazis burning books in the 1930s, saying:
“We remember the footage when they were burning books,” he said.
“It is impossible to imagine such a thing in our country and we are insured against this thanks to our culture.
“And it’s inseparable for us from our motherland, from Russia, where there is no place for ethnic intolerance, where for centuries representatives from dozens of ethnic groups have been living together.”
"It's impossible to imagine such a thing in our country"
President Vladimir Putin uses J K Rowling as an example of Western cynicism and "cancel culture", which he says is currently being aimed at Russia.
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While sexual activity between same-sex couples has been legal in Russia since 1993, LGBT people are not offered the same legal and social rights as their non-LGBT peers.
Some of the larger cities are known to have thriving LGBT communities, but there are currently no laws in Russia protecting discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity.
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