Wentworth, who played the lead character Michael Scofield in Prison Break came out as a gay man yesterday August 21 via an open letter to the Saint Petersburg Film Festival, rejecting an invitation to attend a premiere there because of Russia's recently-passed anti-gay laws.

The  41-year-old actor wrote:

Thank you for your kind invitation. As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline.

I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government. The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly.

Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve, I'll be free to make a different choice.
Until then. Wentworth Miller