Elton John warns of ‘rising tide of anger and homophobia’ in the US

British pop star Elton John lamented the “rising tide of anger and homophobia” in the United States and described as “shameful” several laws recently passed in Florida that curb LGBT+ rights.

“Everything is going wrong in America,” the singer, who has been a voice for gay rights and visibility for years, said in an interview published in Britain’s Radio Times magazine, pointing to a rise in violent incidents and recent laws limiting rights. “We seem to be moving backwards. And it spreads. It’s like a virus that is attacking the LGBTQ+ movement.”

According to the advocacy group LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign, more than 520 such legislative measures have been adopted in more than 40 US states – a record.

“I don’t like it at all,” said Elton, speaking of the increasingly hostile atmosphere. “It’s a rising tide of anger and homophobia sweeping across America.”

Elton John, 76, will headline Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest music festival, on Sunday (26), as his long final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, approaches its final in Stockholm on July 8. The tour started in 2018 and when it ends it will have included more than 330 performances, but it was interrupted by the pandemic and the hip surgery that the singer underwent.

As he prepares to perform at Glastonbury, the last British performance on the tour, Elton said he doesn’t know if the growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment is as strong in the UK. “I don’t know why I haven’t spent much time here,” he said.

But he called the scandal surrounding British news anchor Phillip Schofield, who recently resigned after admitting he had a relationship with a younger man, “outright homophobia”.

“If it had been a straight guy having an affair with a younger woman, it wouldn’t even have made the news,” he commented.

In the Radio Times interview, Elton said that after his farewell tour is over, he might be into doing a long series of concerts in one space, “but not in America”. Representatives for him said the reason is the same that led him to decide to stop touring: he wants to spend more time with his husband and children, who live in the UK.

Last year, Elton — who didn’t want his songs played at former President Donald Trump’s rallies — performed at Joe Biden’s White House. “I wish America was more bipartisan,” he said, sitting at the piano. After the concert, Biden presented him with the National Humanities Medal.