Putin Has No Love for Gay Athletes in Olympics

Courtesy of Design Crowd

NBC's coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics , got a little political. Bob Costas sat down  with journalists  David Remnick and Vladimir Pozner, and addressed two separate but related issues that have loomed over this Olympics since the start;  athlete safety in Sochi, and what's Putin got against the gays? To make a short interview even shorter, the Olympics will be a success for Putin if no bombs go off. As for the "gay" issue quite frankly my dears, he doesn't give a damn. Seriously. David Remnick on Putin: "He is not a democrat. He has no interest in LGBT issues or human rights, all the things that are being discussed. He doesn't care that you care that much. What you may think is a downside is not of great concern to him, unless there's an incident of some kind." 

REALLY? Not interested in human rights? In June 2013, the Russian government banned the distribution of "gay propaganda" for the children's sake. This pretty much includes any type of pro-gay stance or display. no rainbow flags, no pride parades, no fashionable tees. Violators can be fined and jailed for up to 14 days. Then in July, Russia banned gay adoptions followed by a proposal to take away children from LGBT parents; that proposal was later withdrawn.

Despite the fact that I find any leader who isn't concerned about human rights morally repugnant, I can at least understand, on some level, that Putin has a lot on his plate. Perhaps he views human rights as a "soft" political issue, one best left for the shallow and extravagant Western culture.

 Political activist and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel said, "the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference." And this is what indifference breeds: a straight man who can beat up a gay man without fear of reprisal.

In 2012, vigilante groups began harassing and attacking gay people in cities all around Russia. At the same time, homophobic media campaigns began running on Russian state television. All the while, the Russian government claims that Russia is ok with gays,"as long as they leave children in peace." Seriously? Tanya Cooper, a Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, tells the Huffington Post that, "the Russian authorities have the power to protect the rights of LGBT people, but instead they are ignoring their responsibility to do so."

So naturally, the Olympic board sends the world's finest to Sochi, Russia. There are over 4,500 athletes competing this month. Gay math tells me that 360 to 450 of them are LGBT (8% to 10% of the general population). They too have worked their whole lives for this moment. Shouldn't they have the right to share it with their loved ones, out in public if that's what they choose?

In an Olympic games where terrorists live right behind the mountainside, queer athletes have to worry about bombs AND homophobic violence. And who is supposed to watch out for them? The same police force that turns a blind eye to hate crimes every day. Ok *climbs down from the soap box.* 

I love sports, so I'll be watching the Winter Olympics. And I'll be eager to see how queer athletes fair in the the most tense Olympics the world has seen in a while. Oh one more thing.

USA!!!