After having her album banned and then 24 hours later, “un-banned”, Lady Gaga used her appearance at Europride to hit out at oppressive governments around the world:
Thanks to Ayman Mhanna from The Support Group for the translation from Italian:
I ask the governments to help us. I will name these governments. The [inequality] is strong in many governments, like Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East. There are not only bad laws but there are laws that affect these people’s integration leading them to suicide. I am a citizen of the world and I ask all governments to help us. When can we get married? When won’t we be oppressed?
Music-Mix describes it further:
During her speech she criticized the U.S. government’s fuzzy attitude toward gay rights, citing the “[negative] effect that the denial of gay marriage has on real families worldwide.” She also pinpointed Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, and Lebanon as other offenders. Her Lebanon shout-out may have been a covert reference to the Middle Eastern nation’s General Secretary Department recently impounding shipments of her new No. 1 album, Born This Way, for being “offensive to Christianity” and in “bad taste.” To those countries, she said “For some governments gay rights are not a political or social priority, and the principles of non-discrimination are ambiguous.”
Lady Gaga at Europride 2011