February 5, 2014 | Arts / Entertainment

Pseudo-lesbians to play at Olympic opening ceremony

In an obvious ploy to help mitigate criticism of its homophobic laws, Russia has invited Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova to play at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. The two are better known as t.A.T.u., whose debut single 'All The Things She Said' was a hit around the world. Part of the duo's gimmick was that they were two school girls in love.

Of course, their Olympic set will likely be stripped of any lesbian imagery. And their act - part of the warm-up show - is not actually scheduled for international broadcast. 

Although marketed as lesbians, questions have always surrounded the two as to their sexuality. And after Yulia became pregnant, many fans complained about 'being lied to.' Lena was later quoted as saying that it was not "fun playing lesbians anymore."

However, they have spoken out in support of the gay community. "We think that every person has the right to express his love to other person in the way those two want and no [third party] should interfere with his dogmas," they said in 2007, after Moscow banned an attempted Pride parade. "We support people irrespective of their sexual orientation and any other differences.”

More recently, after speaking about the difficulties of gay youth in Russia, Lena pointed out that the new laws were "weird" and that "a lot of people from the [Russian] government with the big positions are gay." (Sadly, not enough are willing to stand up against oppression.)

It will be interesting to see how Russia spins their performance to its advantage. After all, t.A.T.u.'s first video would definitely have violated Russian gay propaganda laws.