2014 Winter Games controversy

[DrLeftover]

1 August 2013

In Russia it is now illegal to even speak about homosexuality around minors, much less openly display gay pride. Technically the ban is against "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" around minors, but the implication for openly gay individuals is clear. Public displays of affection by gays, including holding hands or displaying symbols like a rainbow flag, are now banned. Violators face steep fines and jail time; foreigners face similar penalties plus deportation.

So what will happen to openly gay athletes and fans, as well as any vocal supporters or protestors, when Russia hosts the Winter Olympics next year in Sochi?

This week, comments by a lawmaker from St. Petersburg set off a firestorm online when he said that fans and athletes would not be immune from prosecution during the games.

Vitaly Milonov, who sponsored legislation in St. Petersburg last year that became the basis for a national law signed by President Vladimir Putin in June, was quoted telling the Interfax news agency that the law will remain in place during the Olympics and will be applied to foreigners.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggests-gay-athletes-prosecuted-2014-winter/story?id=19829868

 

[DrLeftover]

RE: Gays may face jail during 2014 Winter Games

More:

02 August 2013

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Thursday that Russia's legislation against "gay propaganda" would apply to athletes and visitors of the Olympic Games in Sochi this winter, despite earlier reassurances by the International Olympic Committee that it would not.

The announcement comes as protests against the legislation intensify in the West and calls for an Olympic boycott spread, with the most recent displays of outrage being American bartenders pouring vodka outside the Russian Consulate in New York on Wednesday.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/sochi-athletes-not-exempt-from-gay-law/483997.html

 

[JetWing34]

RE: Gays may face jail during 2014 Winter Games

Hmm...kind of like the Olympics version of "Don't Ask Don't Tell".

 

[DrLeftover]

RE: Gays may face jail during 2014 Winter Games

Hmm...kind of like the Olympics version of "Don't Ask Don't Tell".

With the added attraction of a Russian Prison thrown in for good measure.

 

[Jazzy]

RE: Gays may face jail during 2014 Winter Games

With the staggering amount of people attending the Olympic Games, just how do they intend to enforce this? This is laughable and everyone attending should wear a rainbow flag pin.

 

[Evil Eye]

RE: Gays may face jail during 2014 Winter Games

With the staggering amount of people attending the Olympic Games, just how do they intend to enforce this?

I wouldn't put it past them.
Remember all the stuff the UK did last year? I seem to remember some pretty advanced CCTV networks and a whole lot of military and police forces.
I think it can be done. At ridiculous cost.

 

[DrLeftover]

Sep 8, 2013

"Lately there has been a lot of discussion and I am pushed by several sponsors about what will happen with this new law in Russia," IOC marketing chief Gerhard Heiberg told Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko.

"Especially the American sponsors are afraid what could happen. This could ruin a lot for all of us.

"We are not there to try to change the law in Russia," he said during an official Sochi Games progress presentation to the IOC in the Argentine capital.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/08/olympics-sochi-gay-idUSL3N0H40BO20130908