Prison Break star Wentworth Miller has come out as gay.

The 41-year-old actor has opened up about his sexual orientation after being asked to attend a film festival in Russia, an offer he turned down due to the conservative country's anti-gay laws.

In an open letter to St. Petersburg International Film Festival director Maria Averbakh, Miller writes, "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."

Miller ends the letter, which was first published on gay rights group GLAAD's website on Wednesday (21Aug13), by stating, "Perhaps, when and if circumstances improve, I'll be free to make a different choice."