'Prison Break' Star Actor, Wentworth Miller Reveals He Is Gay

"Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller, revealed his gay identity after being invited to attend a film festival in Russia.

In a letter to Maria Averbakh, director of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, the 41-year-old star said:

"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."

"If circumstances improve, I'll be free to make a different choice."

The actor was immediately praised by gay rights advocates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in July signed a law banning the adoption of Russian-born children by gay couples.

Putin in June signed another bill that classified 'homosexual propaganda' as pornography and provides for fines and arrest for those making it accessible to minors.

A law passed in 2012 also banned public gay pride events in Moscow for the next 100 years.

The Russian laws have sparked protests in the US where some gay rights advocates have poured Russian vodka in the streets.

The anti-gay propaganda law quickly stirred up controversy, with people calling for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia to gay bars in Los Angeles and New York holding "vodka-dumping" protests.