““If I’m invited, I will come once the law’s repealed. But as long as this thing is there, I have to take a stand,” “
Perlman was invited twice to the Soviet Union in 1990, whose Article 121 at that time punished homosexuality with up to 5 years in prison. According to Wikipedia, “during the Soviet regime, Western observers believed that between 800 to 1,000 men were imprisoned each year under Article 121.”
In either of these cases did he “have to take a stand” against the communist authorities of the Soviet Union?
Here’s how his own website describes the stand he had to take then:
‘As someone who has throughout my whole life consistently stood up for the rights of minorities, I cannot accept. I will come once the law’s repealed. But as long as the Soviet Union’s Article 121 is there, I have to take a stand,’ ... oh sorry wrong script.
Here’s the actual stand he took, according to his own website:
“He again made history as he joined the orchestra for its first visit to the Soviet Union in April/May of 1990, and was cheered by audiences in Moscow and Leningrad who thronged to hear his recital and orchestral performances. This visit was captured on a PBS documentary entitled Perlman in Russia which won an Emmy.”
http://www.itzhakperlman.com/about/
He plays the violin but fiddles with himself...