Wentworth Miller, who starred for four seasons on Fox's "Prison Break," came out as gay this week in a letter to Russian film festival organizers in which the actor denied an invitation to the event.
Miller, 41, said he would not serve as the "guest of honor" at the upcoming St. Petersburg International Film Festival in protest of Russia's new anti-gay laws.
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"As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However,
as a gay man, I must decline," Miller wrote to festival officials Wednesday.
"I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government," he wrote. "The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly."
Earlier this summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a measure that
bans gay propaganda and criminalizes public displays of "nontraditional sexual relationships."
Many of Miller's former "Prison Break" co-stars and other celebrities took to Twitter to congratulate the actor on his coming out and commend him for standing up for his beliefs.
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