Is Valery Gergiev Being Scapegoated for the Kremlin’s Anti-Gay Policies?

As head of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater and a famously tireless globe-trotter, Gergiev is Russia’s leading conductor and arguably its most prominent living musician. He is also the cultural figure most closely identified with Vladimir Putin. Consequently, it is Gergiev who is constantly targeted with protests in the West over Russia’s treatment of its gay citizens. Mark Swed considers whether this is fair.