Sochi gay scene cle before Rsia hosts Wter Gam | Rters

Contents:

• HOW SOCHI BEME THE GAY OLYMPICS
• EXCLIVE: SOCHI'S GAYS HAD PROTECTN FROM THE MAYOR WHO CLAIMED THEY DON'T EXIST
• OLYMPIC ANTI-DISCRIMATN CLSE TRODUCED AFTER SOCHI GAY RIGHTS ROW
• SOCHI 2014: GAY RIGHTS PROTTS TARGET RSIA'S GAM
• SOCHI'S GAY SCENE
• SOCHI GAY SCENE CLE BEFORE RSIA HOSTS WTER GAM
• NO GAYS SOCHI? WRONG, MR MAYOR (... AND, NO, WE ARE NOT THE ONLY GAYS THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE)
• FOR SOME SOCHI’S GAY MUNY, ATTUS TMP LAWS
• SOCHI 2014: NO GAY PEOPLE CY, SAYS MAYOR
• GAY IENDLY? - SOCHI FOM
• SOCHI: GAY ACTIVISTS PROTT ST. PETERSBURG ON EVE OF OLYMPICS OPENG CEREMONY
• DPE ANTI-GAY LAWS, 'S BS AS UAL SOCHI'S MAYAK BAR
• RSIA, GAY RIGHTS, AND THE SOCHI OLYMPICS
• HOW THE INTERNATNAL LGBTQ RIGHTS MOVEMENT FAILED RSIAN GAYS SOCHI
• WHY RSIA’S SOCHI OLYMPICS ARE NOW A BATTLEGROUND FOR GAY RIGHTS
• RSIA ANTI-GAY LAW STS A SHADOW OVER SOCHI’S 2014 OLYMPICS
• OBAMA SELECTS GAY ATHLET FOR SOCHI OLYMPIC LEGATN

HOW SOCHI BEME THE GAY OLYMPICS

” “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.

EXCLIVE: SOCHI'S GAYS HAD PROTECTN FROM THE MAYOR WHO CLAIMED THEY DON'T EXIST

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.

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.

OLYMPIC ANTI-DISCRIMATN CLSE TRODUCED AFTER SOCHI GAY RIGHTS ROW

” 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.

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. 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.

SOCHI 2014: GAY RIGHTS PROTTS TARGET RSIA'S GAM

31, a week before the Wter Olympics began, thori the Ural Mountas cy of Nizhny Tagil, part of Rsia’s dtrial heartland, ed the gay propaganda law to shut down the only anizatn the untry that uncils gay teenagers through the procs of g out. After the ntroversy that surround Rsia’s anti-gay laws before the Sochi 2014 Wter Gam, the Internatnal Olympic Commtee (IOC) has troduced a specific anti-discrimatn clse to s host cy a letter to prospective bidrs for the 2022 Wter Olympics rmg them of chang to the ntract, which acts as a bdg agreement between the IOC and the wner, director of sport Christophe Dubi said the new clse would be based on prciple 6 of the Olympic clse reads: “Any form of discrimatn wh regard to a untry or a person on grounds of race, relign, polics, genr or otherwise is patible wh belongg to the Olympic movement. ”In the letter, Dubi rms bidrs that “an exprs reference was clud to the prohibn of any form of discrimatn, g the wordg of fundamental prciple 6 of the Olympic charter” the eve of the Sochi Olympics, the Guardian revealed that more than 50 current and former Olympians – cludg 12 petg the 2014 Gam – had lled on the Rsian thori to rensir new laws that banned “gay propaganda” aimed at unr-18s and had led to a wave of homophobic of the 52 Olympians, wh dozens of medals between them and cludg 12 Sochi petors, also cricised the IOC and multatnal sponsors for not dog more to force Vladimir Put’s admistratn to sle back the legislatn.

SOCHI'S GAY SCENE

“This is a signifint step ensurg the protectn of both cizens and athlet around the world and sends a clear msage to future host ci that human rights vlatns, cludg those agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people, will not be tolerated, ” said Andre Banks, -founr of All Out. Before the 2008 summer Gam, Beijg faced global protts over s human rights rerd durg the torch relay while Kazakhstan has been repeatedly cricised over human rights by move is likely to crease the prsure on Fifa to take a stand before the 2018 World Cup Rsia and the ntroversial 2022 tournament Qatar, where homosexualy is Guardian revealed June that Fifa, mired ntroversy over rptn claims surroundg the 2018 and 2022 biddg procs, was nsirg makg a untry’s human rights rerd a factor when cidg future World Cup hosts.

SOCHI GAY SCENE CLE BEFORE RSIA HOSTS WTER GAM

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. Put's creasgly nservative social agenda his third term as print has boosted the role of the Rsian Orthodox Church, whose lear has suggted homosexualy is one of Rsia's biggt threats, and given more air time to anti-homosexual rhetoric on media outlets.

SOCHI, Rsia (Rters) - At the Mayak Cabaret, one of the few gay clubs Rsia’s Olympic cy of Sochi, the nightly drag show starts wh a dm roll before a performer a bte wig lip synchs “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Bt Friend” rights activist Vladislav Slavsky (R) pos for a photograph wh his boyiend, who wants to rema anonymo, at the Black Sea promena Sochi, south wtern Rsia October 21, 2013. REUTERS/Thomas PeterBut when the show is over at one of the last landmarks of a once vibrant gay scene Sochi, the lights fall on an dience ma up mostly of straight upl who me for the ’s gay scene has been shrkg sce Rsia won the right to host the 2014 Wter Gam, and the cle has ntued sce Print Vladimir Put signed a law this year banng the spread of “gay propaganda” among new law has foced attentn on Sochi, which will host many foreigners as well as Rsians durg the Olympics. Now they have almost all disappeared, ” he said, addg that he himself is lookg to leave the says on any given night only a third of his ctomers are gay men, far fewer than when he opened the club ne years ’s creasgly nservative social agenda his third term as print has boosted the role of the Rsian Orthodox Church, whose lear has suggted homosexualy is one of Rsia’s biggt threats, and given more air time to anti-homosexual rhetoric on media outlets.

NO GAYS SOCHI? WRONG, MR MAYOR (... AND, NO, WE ARE NOT THE ONLY GAYS THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE)

They had fished a succsful n wh a gay hotel and wanted to try somethg more Mayak they employ sgers and dancers - all men - and Kocha says he draws a prof every night om crowds among the cy’s well-heeled who prefer to avoid the rort’s tourist bars. I walk down the street wh my boyiend, people may know I’m gay, but no one pays any attentn, ” said Marcel Afl, 30, who worked the northern oil cy of Salekhard to earn money to e and enjoy the sun and the beach of Sochi is much ls tolerant than many Wtern European ci.

FOR SOME SOCHI’S GAY MUNY, ATTUS TMP LAWS

Many Sochi’s gay muny have left, lured abroad by the gay scen ci such as Berl or PLAYGROUNDDurg Soviet tim, Sochi had gaed a reputatn for tolerance, pecially after beme a top tourism spot at a time when Soviet regulatns stipulated that hbands and wiv mt vatn away om each other and their cy beme the background for many summertime romanc among married and unmarried spa regulatns also mand that visors were divid by sex and that strangers were put up the same room durg their stay the regn, which beme a Soviet playground part due to late dictator Josef Stal’s affy for s warm weather, hot sprgs and seashore. Kocha says that like Mosw’s Bolshoi Theatre, which was a landmark for gay people to meet potential partners durg the Soviet era, Sochi had s own meetg spots, such as the gay beach that dotted s Black Sea ont of the hotel Sputnik was the bt place to meet other gay men, he lols say they n feel Put’s creasgly nservative polil urse, which has galvanized his support among more tradnal parts of the natnwi bill that outlaws gay “propaganda” giv ltle tail on what exactly is banned and gay activists fear the possible proximy of children uld be ed to ban gay rights rally or even punish displays of affectn. BOYCOTT CALLSBut the legislatn has brought lls for a boytt of the Olympics om activists such as Brish edian Stephen Fry, who vised Rsia this year to draw attentn to the activists have also asked Internatnal Olympic Commtee chief Thomas Bach to lnch an vtigatn to the Rsian law and the implitns would hold for visors durg the ’s sports mister, Valy Mutko, said this month that the ernment should have waed until after the Gam to implement the law banng gay propaganda.

“It would have been possible to lculate what kd of reactn this would have ed the Wt, pecially on the eve of the Olympics, ” he said an terview wh bs daily an attempt to burnish Rsia’s image ahead of the Gam, Put has warned Rsians agast homophobia and said gay people would be wele Sochi durg the Rsia’s gay muny say the law sends out a signal for people to sgle them out for discrimatn and some s buildg hog the Mayak Cabaret has only one outsi light, shg over a brown steel door and doorbell. Every eveng, is barely regnizable as a who have learned is a gay club have ripped the sign off so many tim, Kocha said, that he has stopped puttg back sometim break out between his ctomers and clients of a workg-class bar next door, but the level of vlence barely par wh what high school stunt Vladislav Slavsky says he puts up wh on a regular basis.

SOCHI 2014: NO GAY PEOPLE CY, SAYS MAYOR

Sochi is host to several well-known gay clubs and a gay-iendly hotelLols say there are many gays the cy, more than elsewhere RsiaSource the mayor's office says his ments were taken out of ntext Published: 22:40 BST, 1 Febary 2014 | Updated: 22:40 BST, 1 Febary 2014 As statements go, last week’s assertn by the mayor of Sochi that there are no gays the rort hostg the Wter Olympics serv a gold medal gibberish.

GAY IENDLY? - SOCHI FOM

Ridicule was immediately heaped on Anatoly Pakhomov, a burly Vladimir Put supporter, after his views were broadst on the BBC’s Panorama programme, promptg yet more ncern over Rsia’s fns to host the Wter Gam – the ‘Put Olympics’ – which open five days’, one lol gay man has wrten a sthg open letter to the 53-year-old mayor, makg clear that he is fely not the only gay the Olympic Village. “The are fascists who have chosen the easier prey, which are gay people, ” Igor Kochetkov, chairman of the Rsian LGBT Network, said the Cooper of Human Rights Watch scribed “a total failure on the part of the Rsian thori to take measur, to prosecute hate crim agast LGBT people. Referrg to Sochi’s ubiquo lor scheme, Amerin figure skater Ashley Wagner joked that the many-lored theme remd her of the rabow flag ed to symbolize gay about this Olympic wave of support, Tanichev stead spoke about how attus toward gays have improved the 10 years sce he opened the club.

Put has sought to flect cricism of the law by potg out that never mentns homosexuals — but the replacement of that language wh “non-tradnal” was a late ia behd the law, acrdg to Masha Gsen, a Rsian and Amerin wrer and LGBT activist, was to create a natnal iology for Rsia, as the fenr of tradnal fai. A major Rsian pollg center released a survey that suggted more than 70 percent of Rsians are agast the jtifitn and public display of homosexual relatns, while only 12 percent were unrstood they were the targets, and many left the untry.

But the Kreml unrtimated ternatnal outrage, which began spoilg Put’s Olympic party back when Print Obama sent a legatn that clud proment gay a briefg Friday, two openly gay members of that legatn — Cal Cahow, a Boston College law stunt who won ice hockey medals two Olympics, and gold medal-wng figure skater Brian Boano — exprsed solidary wh Rsia’s LGBT what may have been a subtle dig of their own at the issue of gay rights, Rsia’s Olympic anizers chose the fake-lbian girl-pop duo t.

SOCHI: GAY ACTIVISTS PROTT ST. PETERSBURG ON EVE OF OLYMPICS OPENG CEREMONY

Petersburg after they unfurled a banner that quoted the ban agast discrimatn the Olympic signalsSochi has long been known as a more tolerant place for gay culture, even unr the Communist ernment of the Soviet Unn, which nsired homosexualy a feral crime. In the 1970s, Tanichev said, gay men would meet unr a statue of Soviet founr Vladimir today has two well-known gay clubs and gay beach, which ma seem odd when the cy’s mayor, Anatoly Pakhomov, told the BBC recently that he did not believe any gays lived the cy. Opposn lear Boris Nemtsov said there were several gay bars June 2013, Rsia passed a law banng the promotn of "non-tradnal" sexualy to unr-18s - wily seen as an attack on gay ntroversial new law ma providg rmatn on homosexualy to unr-18s a crime, punishable by a fe.

"Our hospaly will be extend to everyone who rpects the laws of the Rsian Feratn and don't impose their habs on others", he when asked whether gay people had to hi their sexualy Sochi, the Mayor said: "No, we jt say that is your bs, 's your life.

In an ternatnal actn aimed at Olympic sponsors that clu McDonalds and Co-Cola, gay and lbian rights advocy group All Out lled on pani to speak out agast the persecutn of homosexuals unr Rsia’s ntroversial laws that ban the “promotn of gay liftyl to youngsters. Andre Banks, All Out’s -founr and executive director, who was leadg one of the Global Speak Out actns outsi McDonald’s New York’s Tim Square, told The Hollywood Reporter: “It is important that Olympic sponsors unrstand and speak out agast the impact the laws have on gay Rsians.

DPE ANTI-GAY LAWS, 'S BS AS UAL SOCHI'S MAYAK BAR

Amerin figure skater Ashley Wagner, trag for events that start today, a day before the official openg of the Wter Gam on Friday, joked that Sochi’s lor scheme, seen everywhere si the Olympic Park, remd her of the rabow flag that symboliz gay pri.

RSIA, GAY RIGHTS, AND THE SOCHI OLYMPICS

Ined, the only unwele visors the days are foreign mera crews, nightly visors thstg their meras to the face of punters and mandg to hear their horror the wter Olympics have e to town, Rsia's law banng "gay propaganda" has bee the most ntroversial issue, wh lls for a boytt of the gam by some wtern gay activists and a number of world lears stayg away prott, at least partly over the gay huge ternatnal prsure over the law, which bans the dissematn of rmatn about homosexualy to unr-18s, and outlaws speakg about gay and straight relatnships equivalent terms, has ed somethg of a spl Rsia's gay muny. But durg their performance, the two women me on stage holdg hands, and wore siar schoolgirl outfs to those that they wore the 2002 song All The Thgs She Said, which featured ra-drenched sapphic Kata, one member of the duo, said the pair had not been told why they were ved, but thought was bee they were one of the few Rsian bands known ternatnally, rather than due to their lbian add that were the duo to release their songs now, they uld be found to be vlatn of the gay propaganda laws, and said that thgs Rsia had bee much stricter. "She said that her gay iends were spl when me to what to do about the law: "Of the gay people I know, some of them are very unhappy and very aggrsive about the law, while other people are gog about their liv quietly, and don't pay attentn.

HOW THE INTERNATNAL LGBTQ RIGHTS MOVEMENT FAILED RSIAN GAYS SOCHI

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.

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. Last summer—about half a year before the Olympic Gam opened Sochi and soon after the Amerin gay rights tablishment beme aware of the Kreml’s unprecented mpaign of anti-gay hate—a number of people bated how the Wt, and the Uned Stat particular, should act durg the gam. 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.

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

“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. 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.

RSIA ANTI-GAY LAW STS A SHADOW OVER SOCHI’S 2014 OLYMPICS

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. Sochi is host to several well-known gay clubs and a gay-iendly hotelLols say there are many gays the cy, more than elsewhere RsiaSource the mayor's office says his ments were taken out of ntext Updated: 22:40 BST, 1 Febary 2014 As statements go, last week’s assertn by the mayor of Sochi that there are no gays the rort hostg the Wter Olympics serv a gold medal gibberish.

OBAMA SELECTS GAY ATHLET FOR SOCHI OLYMPIC LEGATN