With the Winter Olympics taking place in Sochi Russia it should be of no surprise that there has been some pressure surrounding gay rights with the creation of Russia’s Anti-Gay Propaganda law. Vladamir Putin has been trying to gain the support of conservative Russia with several initiatives that are meant to bring traditional values back to Russia and segregate them from the Western world.
So what exactly are these anti-gay propaganda laws? Essentially they state that it is not illegal to perform “gay acts” in public but it is illegal to promote homosexuality to the younger generation. Where does this leave gay couples with children? Russia has seemed to embrace these new laws with an 88% acceptance rate using general population polls. Where reality kicks in is when we see the real effects of this type of discrimination, youth assaulting homosexuals and publicly humiliating them, is this really the progress they were searching for? I say no.
How have other countries reacted? One reaction that I particularly enjoyed with this lead up and start of the Sochi Olympics was the reaction of USA president Barrack Obama. Not only is he absent from the games themselves, but guess who they choose to represent the USA, the flag bearers for the country, two homosexual athletes Billie Jean King and Caitlin Cahow.
How have advertisers reacted? At&t offered this statement.
“AT&T has a long and proud history of support for the LGBT community in the United States and everywhere around the world where we do business. We support LGBT equality globally and we condemn violence, discrimination and harassment targeted against LGBT individuals everywhere. Russia’s law is harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it’s harmful to a diverse society.”
How about the athletes themselves? Some movements asked for athletes to boycott the games themselves but most athletes don’t see this as the way to go. Some have opted to show their support for Principle 6 of the olympic charter that states “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement,” this pretty much speaks for itself.
How have Canadians reacted? The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion have released a funny commercial.
Amercian bobsleder released this statement in return. Christian Niccum, elaborated:
“They’re making fun of our sport for their cause and it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me. If I were to go hug my dad and someone took a picture and showed it in really slow motion, they could use it in a video like that and that’s just ridiculous. It’s my dad. Can’t we show affection to each other without it being some sort of sexual contact? This is sports. It’s the same thing. Why does it have to be like that?”
How do you feel about all this?
