Lady Gaga thanks Russian PM (From Knutsford Guardian)

Lady Gaga thanks Russian PM

1:05pm Saturday 8th December 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Lady Gaga has expressed "her gratitude" to Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev for opposing regional laws that make it a crime to provide minors with information about homosexuality.

The pop star tweeted on Saturday that she wanted to thank the former president for "not standing by your party's anti-gay propaganda law".

Gaga's tweet followed her arrival in St Petersburg, one of the three Russian cities that have recently passed bills imposing heavy fines for providing minors with information on homosexuality, which the laws term "homosexual propaganda".

Asked about the laws, Mr Medvedev said in an interview that "not all relations between people can be regulated by law".

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, but homophobia remains strong, and gay rallies have been dispersed by police and militant Orthodox activists.