As we all know, there were laws passed last year in Russia banning gay "propaganda." They allow for the prosecution of people for doing things as simple as holding hands with someone of the same gender in public or wearing a rainbow shirt. There has been much speculation as to whether or not these laws will affect the athletes coming into the country for the Winter Olympics, and I sincerely hope they won't be. But anyway, President Obama announced in December that the delegation the U.S. is sending to Sochi will be including openly gay athletes such as Billie Jean King, Brian Boitano, and Caitlin Cahow, but will not include the President, any of his family, or an active Cabinet secretary.
I'm both excited and worried about the Winter Games this year, because on one hand, there will be openly gay athletes (including New Zealand's Blake Skjellerup who intends to wear a rainbow themed badge that says "Proud 2014"), but on the other hand, it seems as though the Russian government intends to keep its anti-gay laws in effect during the games. I'm glad that not only is President Obama refusing to attend the Games because of Russia's harmful policies, but that other leaders have already announced they will not be attending.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/sport/us-delegation-russia-olympics/index.html?c=us
It's good to hear that numerous world leaders are refusing to attend this event because of the policies. It's sad that Russia has decided to not repeal any of the laws but I'm glad that athletes and officials are taking a stand. I hope everyone stays safe during the Games.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear that they are redeeming themselves. They dug themselves a pretty deep hole with everything that happened last year.
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