Selena Gomez has canceled the Russian leg of her "Stars Dance" tour after her visa was denied, reportedly due to the singer's positive stance on LGBT rights amid the country's current and controversial anti-gay legislation, the Huffington Post reports.
Gomez was forced to cancel her two shows in the country, including a performance in St. Petersburg on Sept. 23 and one in Moscow on Sept. 25, according to the Moscow Times. Before the shows were officially canceled, Gomez was under pressure from a Change.org petition to take an official stance on LGBT rights, petition author John Becker of Washington D.C. calling for the former Disney actress to "let LGBT folks in Russia know that we stand with them, and that they are not alone."
The petition reached over 1,000 signatures before Gomez officially canceled her Russian tour dates.
"Wow. Less than two days after we launched this petition asking Selena Gomez to speak out for LGBT Russians at her upcoming concerts there, Russian authorities yanked her visa. She was forced to cancel the performances just four days before the first was scheduled to take place," Becker wrote in the petition's most recent update.
The petition caught the attention of a variety of news sources, including E! News, HuffPost and German newspaper Der Spiegel.
Russia's latest anti-gay legislation, including an "anti-gay propaganda" law and a proposed bill to remove children from the home of LGBT parents, has put the country under global scrutiny. Selena Gomez is allegedly another musician to fall victim to Russian officials's attempts to continue their homophobic campaign, HuffPost writes.
Other artists have declined to perform in the country in the wake of the current legislation, including gay icon Cher, though Elton John felt he "had to go" back in December in order to support his fans.
