U.S. legatn to Rsian Olympics clus gay athlet | CNN

Contents:

• HOW SOCHI BEME THE GAY OLYMPICS
• GAY ATHLET COULD BE PROSECUTED AT 2014 WTER OLYMPICS, RSIAN LAWMAKER SUGGTS
• SOCHI 2014: GAY RIGHTS PROTTS TARGET RSIA'S GAM
• PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA
• U.S. LEGATN TO RSIAN OLYMPICS CLUS GAY ATHLET
• WTER OLYMPICS: PUT UTNS GAY VISORS TO SOCHI
• RUPERT EVERETT JOS BOYTT OF RSIAN WTER OLYMPICS OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS
• WTER OLYMPICS: PUT 'IENDLY' WH GAY PEOPLE
• PROTTS, BOYTT LLS AS ANGER GROWS OVER RSIA ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAWS
• VLADIMIR PUT: GAY PEOPLE AT WTER OLYMPICS MT 'LEAVE CHILDREN ALONE'
• STEPHEN FRY LLS FOR BAN ON WTER OLYMPICS RSIA OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS
• WHY RSIA’S SOCHI OLYMPICS ARE NOW A BATTLEGROUND FOR GAY RIGHTS
• RSIA, GAY RIGHTS, AND THE SOCHI OLYMPICS
• WILL GAYS BE SAFE AT RSIA’S WTER OLYMPICS?

HOW SOCHI BEME THE GAY OLYMPICS

The Stonewall rts were more than a the past; a year earlier, reports had surfaced about rare pnmonia and ncer afflictg homosexuals New York and California—the first glimmers of what would later be lled AIDS. ” “Direct ntact” wh athlet om the natns, Day argued, would be enlighteng for Amerins livg a untry where ternatnal visors were often nied entry bee of their sexual s later, sports are once aga stirrg to take stock of gay rights around the world. Ultimately, the stlit Olympics history may be remembered for markg a perd which gay rights aren’t so much advancg globally as expandg certa parts of the world while regrsg or languishg 6, 000 athlet om 85 untri gather Sochi, the global gay-rights divi will be unmistakable.

But gay rights only me to the fore the summer of 2013, when the Rsian ernment, which crimalized homosexualy 1993, banned the dissematn of “propaganda of nontradnal sexual relatns” around children—makg more difficult for gay activists to operate and, rights groups allege, fuelg a rise anti-gay vlence the untry. The mayor of Sochi sayg there were no gay people his cy didn’t help, perhaps the most provotive rebe to Rsia’s lims on LGBT rights, Print Obama has clud three openly gay athlet—Billie Jean Kg, Cal Cahow, and Brian Boano— the U.

Gay Olympic athlet have exprsed outrage as well; the Atralian snowboarr Belle Brockhoff, for stance, has vowed to “rip on [Put’s] ass” after petg and possibly flash an oblique six-fger salute reference to “Prciple Six, ” an anti-discrimatn clse the Olympic Charter. Then there’s the solutn proposed by Saturday Night Live: an all-heterosexual Team USA figure-skatg squad:The laws agast homosexualy that have recently ma ternatnal headl aren’t necsarily new, Stern says, but they are “gettg more attentn today bee of the level of progrs that we’ve seen other parts of the world. In recent months, India’s Supreme Court has restated a ban on gay sex ( one fell swoop doublg, by one timate, the number of gay people the world who n be imprisoned for their sexualy) and Atralia’s High Court has overturned gay-marriage legislatn.

GAY ATHLET COULD BE PROSECUTED AT 2014 WTER OLYMPICS, RSIAN LAWMAKER SUGGTS

” We know the story Rsia, where Vladimir Put has anoted himself the lear of an ternatnal nservative unteroffensive agast the Wt’s “genrls and fertile” the Bssels-based Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA) noted s latt report on “state-sponsored homophobia, ” “ltle has changed the proportn between untri crimalizg same-sex sexual acts between nsentg adults and those which do not, i. ”The “current divisn of the world—om the pot of view of legislatn—to an LGBTI-iendly field and an LGBTI-uniendly field is the rult of different cultural, social and polil procs rooted the histori of the untri and the history of their relatns wh one another, ” the study ’s how that divid world looked as of May 2013, when ILGA me out wh s report (click on the map to expand):ILGAIn a June report tled “The Global Divi on Homosexualy, ” the Pew Rearch Center arrived at siar nclns, fdg “broad acceptance of homosexualy North Ameri, the European Unn, and much of Lat Ameri, but equally wispread rejectn predomantly Mlim natns and Ai, as well as parts of Asia and Rsia.

S., where public support has grown signifintly, and that “acceptance of homosexualy is particularly wispread untri where relign is ls central people’s liv”—natns that also tend to be the wealthit the world.

SOCHI 2014: GAY RIGHTS PROTTS TARGET RSIA'S GAM

Exceptns clu Rsia and Cha, where levels of religsy and tolerance for homosexualy are both Rearch CenterHere are the percentag of rponnts the 39 untri Pew surveyed who said society should accept homosexualy. Except South Ai, where gay marriage is legal but only 32 percent accept homosexualy, same-sex marriage has, not surprisgly, advanced the most untri where support of homosexualy is Rearch CenterRelign undoubtedly rms opns on LGBT rights—a dynamic rerced by the recent trend of globetrottg Amerin evangelils, stymied at home, craftg and promotg rtrictns on homosexualy foreign pals—but ’s not the only factor at play. Vladimir Put, ILGA Executive Director Renato Sabbadi argu, se anti-gay legislatn as a means of platg the powerful Rsian Orthodox Church and fendg ‘tradnal valu’ opposn to the Wt, where LGBT rights are generally advancg.

PUT’S PRI? SIX FAMO GAY SONS OF RSIA

Stern pots to the Kampala-based Civil Society Coaln on Human Rights and Constutnal Law’s outspoken opposn to Uganda’s anti-gay bill, while Sabbadi c how Indian gay-rights activists swiftly mobilized to prott the rtoratn of the untry’s ban on homosexual acts. ” In Brazil, for example, same-sex marriage is legal, but more transgenr people are murred than anywhere else the also tak issue wh the notn that Sochi is simply a dramatizatn of today's global gay-rights divi.

Vlators face steep f and jail time; foreigners face siar penalti pl what will happen to openly gay athlet and fans, as well as any vol supporters or prottors, when Rsia hosts the Wter Olympics next year Sochi? "We are aware of the laws and are engaged active discsns wh the Internatnal Olympic Commtee and the US State Department about how we n ensure that every Amerin Sochi, pecially our athlet, are safe and secure, " the letter least one athlete, openly gay New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellep, has already pledged to wear a rabow p durg the sentiment ns high Rsia, where homosexualy was illegal durg the Soviet Unn and only crimalized 1993.

U.S. LEGATN TO RSIAN OLYMPICS CLUS GAY ATHLET

Influential gay activist Dan Savage last week lled on supporters to stop buyg Stolichnaya and Rsian Standard, two major Rsian vodka labels, and to urge bars and rtrants to do the same, g the hashtag #DumpStoli.

WTER OLYMPICS: PUT UTNS GAY VISORS TO SOCHI

The overseas product is ma om Rsian gredients, but bottled rponse, the pany's webse has highlighted s longstandg support for gay rights, cludg a banner image on s Facebook page statg "Stolichnaya Premium Vodka stands strong & proud wh the global LGBT muny agast the attu & actns of the Rsian ernment. "Calls for a full boytt of the gam have been few th far, but some activists, cludg the group Human Rights Campaign, are urgg NBC, which will air the gam the Uned Stat, to clu stori about the anti-gay law s Lazas, the head of NBC Sports, has promised that if the law impacts any part of the Wter Gam, "we will make sure we are acknowledgg and regnizg , " acrdg to the Guardian. Media ptn, Watch: The torch arriv Sochi, where will spend three days ahead of the openg ceremonyGay rights activists across the world have been holdg a day of protts agast the Rsian ernment, jt two days before the Wter Olympics beg the southern rort of protts seek to persua sponsors of the event to speak out over Rsia's ntroversial laws on gay rights protts were anised 19 ci around the Olympic torch has arrived Sochi, havg vised 135 ci the 122 days sce leavg will spend three days and around Sochi before arrivg the Olympic stadium to light the Olympic uldron durg Friday's openg ceremony.

Activists want Olympic sponsors such as McDonald's, Co-Cola, Samsung and Visa to speak agast Rsia's new laws on ptn, Protters Jesalem chant: "No exc, homophobia is terror"Last year, Rsia banned the promotn of "non-tradnal" sexualy - wily seen as an attack on gay law mak providg rmatn on homosexualy to unr-18s a crime, punishable by a fe. "Image source, PAImage ptn, TV prenter Pl O'Grady and polil mpaigner Peter Tatchell took part the rally central LondonImage source, RtersImage ptn, Protters Madrid held up sheets of rd the lours of the Olympics rgsIn a rporate blog post, AT&T nmned Rsia's stance, sayg stood "agast Rsia's anti-LGBT [lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr] law" telemunitns giant is not an IOC sponsor but do sponsor the US Olympic month, Print Vladimir Put said homosexuals would be wele Sochi for the Olympics but add: "Jt leave the children peace. In June 2013, jt months before the openg ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, Rsian Print Vladimir Put signed what beme known as the “gay propaganda law, ” argug that “nontradnal sexual relatns” were a danger to children, the fay and society.

RUPERT EVERETT JOS BOYTT OF RSIAN WTER OLYMPICS OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights nmned the “gay propaganda” law and orred the ernment to pay rtutn to three platiffs ― a cisn that Rsia is obligated by treaty to rpect ― but Rsian urts ntue to punish people unr the law. The Uned Stat’ legatn to the upg Wter Olympics Rsia won’t clu a member of Print Barack Obama’s fay or an active Cabet secretary, but will clu openly gay athlet - a clear jab at Rsia’s recent anti-gay laws.

Fuelg the rift between the natns are new laws Rsia banng gay “propaganda” – a law crics say is so vague that anyone n be prosecuted for wearg a rabow T-shirt or holdg hands public wh someone of the same sex. Obama told Jay Leno Augt he had “no patience for untri that try to treat gays or lbians or transgenr persons ways that timidate them or are harmful to them, ” and durg his vis to Rsia earlier this year, Obama met wh the lears of Rsian social activist groups. Media ptn, Mr Put rarely giv terviews to foreign journalists, but spoke wh the BBC's Andrew Marr ahead of the Wter OlympicsRsian Print Vladimir Put has said homosexuals will be wele Sochi for the Olympics but warned them agast spreadg "gay propaganda".

One of the volunteers at Friday's meetg mented on Sochi's rabow-loured uniforms and asked if they might be breachg the ban on gay Put replied that he had not signed the source, AFPImage ptn, Rsia has traed 25, 000 volunteers to work at the Sochi Gam"We are not banng anythg and we won't arrt anyone, " Mr Put said, televised remarks.

WTER OLYMPICS: PUT 'IENDLY' WH GAY PEOPLE

"Gay rights mpaigners around the world have lled for a boytt of the Wter Olympics prott at Rsia's ntroversial new legislatn, which was passed amendment to the child protectn law prcrib f for providg rmatn about homosexualy to people unr 18. Some natnal lears have dited they will not attend the gam, which n om 7 to 23 Print Barack Obama potedly announced he was sendg an Olympic legatn that clus several openly gay sports figur, among them tennis legend Billie Jean Kg.

Actor Rupert Everett has joed Stephen Fry urgg the prime mister, David Cameron, to orchtrate a boytt of the Sochi Wter Olympics prott at Rsian anti-gay laws banng the "propaganda of non-tradnal sexual relatns". Crics say the amendment's loose wordg, and s ee terpretatn by the thori, effectively make any kd of public gay rights event Rsia natnal lears have dited they will not attend the gam, which n om 7 to 23 Print Barack Obama potedly announced he was sendg an Olympic legatn that clus several openly gay sports figur, among them tennis legend Billie Jean people honoured"If you want my personal attu, I would tell you that I don't re about a person's sexual orientatn, " Mr Put told Andrew Marr gay people like the Brish sger Elton John were popular Rsia, he said.

"There's no danger for dividuals of this non-tradnal sexual orientatn who are planng to e to the gam as visors or participants, " he crimHuman rights mpaigners have noted an alarmg rise hate attacks on gay people Rsia recent years while reportg of homosexualy the state media has been largely hostile or source, APImage ptn, Gay rights protter Pavel Lebev tried to dispt the Olympic relay VoronezhCrics of the Kreml acce of spegoatg gay people as a way of cementg Mr Put's hold on power sce his re-electn 2012 amid mass anti-ernment protts.

PROTTS, BOYTT LLS AS ANGER GROWS OVER RSIA ANTI-GAY PROPAGANDA LAWS

Nohels, one openly gay US athlete who is a self-nfsed Rsophile, Johnny Weir, told Rters news agency this week he uld not support the Sochi boytt figure skater, who had hoped to pete himself but is reverg om jury, argued that an issue which affects a mory group should not a "lifetime of sacrific" ma by thoands of athlet.

VLADIMIR PUT: GAY PEOPLE AT WTER OLYMPICS MT 'LEAVE CHILDREN ALONE'

Implemented last month, after Print Vladimir Put signed to law, bars the public discsn of gay rights and relatnships anywhere children might hear – and has been nmned by Rsian and ternatnal rights groups as highly discrimatory. Vladimir Put has said that gay people will be not be subjected to harassment at the Wter Olympics Sochi, as long as they stay away om is currently Sochi reviewg preparatns for the Gam, which beg three weeks. "You n feel relaxed and lm [ Rsia], but leave children alone please, " said the law on "homosexual propaganda" me to force last year, Rsia's gay muny has reported an upturn homophobic vlence and threats.

STEPHEN FRY LLS FOR BAN ON WTER OLYMPICS RSIA OVER ANTI-GAY LAWS

Stephen Fry has joed growg lls for Rsia to be stripped of the Sochi 2014 Wter Olympics bee of ncerns over new anti-gay laws, wh the actor equatg the suatn to the stagg of the 1936 Berl Gam Nazi an open letter to the Internatnal Olympic Commtee and David Cameron that was also circulated to Fry's 2 ln Twter followers, he said Vladimir Put "is makg spegoats of gay people, jt as Hler did Jews" add: "Put is eerily repeatg this sane crime, only this time agast LGBT [lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr] Rsians. "The new laws, passed by the Duma, prohib "propaganda" support of "non-tradnal" sexual orientatn and threaten heavy f for anyone "promotg" homosexualy to have cid wh a sharp rise reports of homophobia and attacks on the LGBT muny the letter, which was also sent to the London 2012 anisg mtee chairman, Lord Coe, Fry add: "The summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glor moments of my life and the life of my untry. Print Obama, who has refed to le out a US boytt of the Gam amid straed relatns between the two untri over a number of issu, said he had "no patience for untri that try to treat gays or lbians or transgenr persons ways that timidate them or are harmful to them" about the issue by Jay Leno on his Tonight Show, Obama add: "I thk they unrstand that for most of the untri that participate the Olympics, we wouldn't tolerate gays and lbians beg treated differently.

WHY RSIA’S SOCHI OLYMPICS ARE NOW A BATTLEGROUND FOR GAY RIGHTS

"Lawmakers had prevly gone back and forth over whether Rsia will enforce the gay propaganda law at the IOC said last month had received assuranc om the Rsian ernment that athlet and spectators would be exempt om the law, and Igor Anansky, the chairman of the state Duma mtee on physil culture, sports and youth affairs, said Augt the law would not be voked durg the the sports mister, Valy Mutko, said on 1 Augt the law would apply to athlet Sochi a statement that is likely to set the state's policy. "No one is forbiddg an athlete wh non-tradnal sexual orientatn om g to Sochi, but if he go on to the street and starts propagandisg , then of urse he will be held acuntable, " Mutko 's recent crackdown on homosexualy has seen ban gay pri paras Mosw and outlaw adoptns by same-sex upl and the "propaganda of non-tradnal sexual orientatns" among gay propaganda law, as is wily known, impos f for virtually any public discsn of LGBT issu, and foreigners face larger f, tentn for up to 15 days and portatn for vlatg . "When rpected people around the world ll this out, highlights what's gog on Rsia, " Alexeev said the parallels Fry draws between Rsia's crackdown on LGBT rights and the start of Jewish persecutn Nazi Germany are "ever more relevant as of late", addg: "Today 's jt laws, but the laws n lead to more reprsn and persecutn of homosexual people the future.

"In March, Fry met the St Petersburg polician Valy Milonov, who thored a cywi ban on gay propaganda last year that helped lead to the feral ban enacted a private discsn that was filmed for Fry's BBC2 documentary Out There, which will be screened later this year, Milonov promised to pray for Fry's soul, and the edian referred to the meetg his letter, scribg as an enunter wh what Hannah Arendt lled the "banaly of evil" Wednday, Rsia's vtigative mtee qutned televisn host Ksenia Sobchak over accatns of slanr agast Duma puty Yelena Mizula, a sponsor of the gay propaganda law. Speakg Friday Mosw, IOC Print Jacqu Rogge said the mtee had received a wrten assurance om the Rsian ernment that the anti-gay propaganda law would not be applied to visors to Sochi – but that “there are still uncertati” which need further clarifitn. “It’s Stal who recrimalized male homosexualy about 80 years ago and that created a kd of atmosphere where first of all at least 26, 000 and probably more like 50, 000 gay men were arrted over the lifetime of that law – and lasted 60 years, ” he said.

RSIA, GAY RIGHTS, AND THE SOCHI OLYMPICS

“Bee of the forced labor mps that 20 ln Rsians went through, a lot of people wnsed or experienced ercive same sex relatnships and that has had a kd of cumulative effect on people’s views of homosexualy, ” he said. While ’s too early really to asss the natnal impact of the anti-gay propaganda law, Healey said, the bate around has “mobilized and animated homophobic groups like skheads and vigilant who associate themselv wh Rsian Orthodoxy to actually vlently asslt and otherwise harm LGBT people physilly. By ntrast, the World Athletics Champnships, staged by the Internatnal Associatn of Athletics Feratns, start Saturday Mosw but have not attracted the same level of prott – spe IAAF print Lame Diack sayg Thursday that Rsia’s anti-gay laws are “no problem whatsoever.

“Every time Rsia (and is nstantly) a gay teenager is forced to suici, a lbian ‘rrectively’ raped, gay men and women beaten to ath by neo-Nazi thugs while the Rsian police stand idly by, the world is dimished and I for one, weep anew at seeg history repeat self. Compare that wh the Uned Stat the 1950s, where homosexual behavr was illegal much of the untry, but groups such as the Mattache Society (found 1950) and the Dghters of Bilis (1955) argued for tolerance.

Much of what Put and his associat say about homosexualy, and ed much of their policy general, reflects a specific historil herage: a group of 19th-century thkers, the Slavophil, who argued that Rsia followed s own distct historil path. In the Wt, the argument favor of same-sex marriage and more generally for a greater place for homosexualy society draws on two ias: that dividuals have the fundamental right to live their liv as they choose, and that homosexualy do no harm to others. For Put’s ernment, by ntrast, the right of dividual choice well below the terts of society as a whole, and homosexualy is regard as unacceptably rrosive of tradnal valu, mographic trends, and the perceived safety of children.

WILL GAYS BE SAFE AT RSIA’S WTER OLYMPICS?

Rsia’s law on homosexual propaganda is th bt unrstood as the rult of a way of thkg datg back to the neteenth century which puts a much smaller emphasis on dividual tonomy and a much greater emphasis on social solidary and the importance of tradn than Wtern society. ”A law banng the adoptn of Rsian-born children by gay upl Rsia or any state where marriage equaly is regnized any, Rsian Print Vladimir Put is mored to be nsirg a law allowg police to remove children om their blogil or adoptive parents if the parents are believed to be the llective legislatn don’t speak for self, a llectn of graphic photos, piled by BuzzFeed, offers visual proof of the vlent tensn between the LGBT muny and opponents of gay rights laws e jt months before Rsia will host the 2014 Wter Olympics Sochi, and as a rult, they have prompted valid ncerns about the safety and secury of visors to the Internatnal Olympic Commtee has said ’s received assuranc om high-rankg Rsian officials that the legislatn banng “homosexual propaganda” will not affect athlet or atten of the Gam Febary. Still, the IOC’s statement Friday was unclear as to whether the anti-gay legislatn will be fully placed on hold durg the Gam, sayg that “ remas to be seen whether and how will be implemented, particularly as regards the Gam Sochi.

”The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for example, plans to hold a secury briefg wh the untry’s team, part bee of the law allowg Rsia to ta tourists and foreign given the tense ternatnal scty that will be placed on Rsia durg the Gam, ’s highly unlikely that the ernment would take a ntroversial actn agast a pro-gay or openly gay athlete om another the Uned Stat trends toward wing rights for the LGBT muny while Rsia walks further away, some have lled for a boytt of the well tentned, a boytt would do more harm than good.