Pop star Boris Moiseyev recently returned to Moscow from a humiliating tour in Irkutsk, the weekly Mir Novostei reported. Moiseyev, who is openly gay and is a self-styled "child of sin," was greeted by jeers in Irkutsk: "Save our children from perverts!" "Leave Siberia for real men; perverts are for idiots!" "Gays, stay away from our city!"

Despite the efforts of local legislators, who recently established a city committee on morals and organized a massive protest against homosexuality in general and Moiseyev in particular, the concert took place as scheduled. "We are not against Boris Moiseyev personally," said Irkutsk Legislative Assembly Deputy Mikhail Kornev in an interview with a local newspaper.

"As an Orthodox Christian, I consider [sexual orientation] to be a matter of his personal freedom. If he wants to tread the path of sin, let him do it. But he has called himself a 'child of sin.' This I cannot tolerate and will fight against." Incidentally, the sexual counterrevolution advocated in Irkutsk has already reached Moscow. The People's Deputy faction of the State Duma has drafted an amendment to the Russian Federation's criminal code stipulating imprisonment for homosexuality.