A video of a drag queen in Germany sewing her lips shut as a statement against Russia’s anti-gay laws has gone viral.

Barbie Breakout encourages LGBT people to ‘speak up, open your mouth’ after she takes a needle and sews her own mouth shut in front of a live camera.

When asked by German news site Die Welt what moved her to this ‘extreme performance art’ the Berlin-based drag queen responded that she felt ‘helpless’ at the recent attacks on LGBT individuals in Russia.

This week, Gay Star News reported that gay teens were being lured on social media to meet for a ‘date,’ where neo-Nazis would intercept the gay teens, then kidnap and torture them.

She said: ‘The pain I felt in my heart when I saw what was happening on the Russian media was greater than the physical pain of the needle.’

Breakout Barbie said that her partner held the camera while she sewed her lips shut, but he couldn’t look.

She said her act of self-mutilation was ‘about the symbolism, not self-destruction’.

Breakout also said that she hopes people will buy less Russian products as acts of protest against Russia’s homophobic laws.

She mentioned the upcoming Sochi Olympics as an opportunity to protest. People around the world are calling for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to boycott or relocate the Sochi Olympics scheduled to take place in 2014. While the IOC has released a statement saying they’ve recieved ‘assurances’ from the highest levels of Russian government that LGBT athletes and spectators would be safe, Russia’s state Duma has confirmed that no one will be safe from arrests.

‘Corporations such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are supporting [the Olympics] by advertising. Maybe we can talk to these important corporations by boycotting or mailing letters. Such a regime should not be supported,’ said Breakout.

The following video shows Barbie Breakout sewing her lips shut as a political statement against Russia’s anti-gay laws. Warning: the following video contains graphic content.