An openly gay journalist and Foreign Policy Initiative fellow was quite literally kicked to the curb by Russian-based television network RT last week after he hijacked a scheduled spot to condemn the network and Russia’s treatment of its gay and lesbian citizens.
Decked out in rainbow-colored suspenders–something that would likely be considered gay “propaganda” in Russia and, therefore, illegal–James Kirchick refused to speak about the Chelsea Manning sentencing, the topic which he was booked as a guest to discuss, and instead unleashed his disdain for Russia’s newly enacted anti-gay laws.
“I have a general rule that I don’t appear on ‘Russia Today’ because it is a Kremlin-funded propaganda channel, and I don’t like to offer legitimacy to such an outlet,” said Kirchick on MSNBC Tuesday. “But because of the situation in Russia right now, I thought it would be a provocative stunt to pull to both draw attention to what’s happening in that country right now, and also to shame the people who work for that network.”
Kirchick went on to say it was “despicable” that RT employees, many of whom live in Western countries with certain freedoms not available in Russia, don’t devote more air time to escalating brutality against LGBT Russians, and instead silently accept what he described as President Vladimir Putin’s “blood money.”
Following the RT interview, which was eventually cut off, Kirchick, who was on vacation in Sweden at the time, got into his car provided by RT. 20 minutes later, he was told that the ride was no longer paid for.
“I was to be deposited on the side of the street,” said Kirchick.








