Takei: Move The 2014 Winter Olympics
2 min read
Gay rights activists, including the original series’ George Takei, are calling for the 2014 Winter Olympics, due to be held in Sochi, Russia, to be moved somewhere else.
Russia recently passed legislation that “made it illegal to provide information about homosexuality to people under the age of eighteen in an effort to curtail ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.'”
Russia’s sports minister intends to enforce the law at the Olympics. “An athlete of nontraditional sexual orientation isn’t banned from coming to Sochi,” said Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko. “But if he goes out into the streets and starts to propagandize, then of course he will be held accountable.”
Those breaking the new law, passed in June, can be fined up to $3,000, be jailed for up to fifteen days, and face deportation and a ban from re-entering Russia in the future.
“Given this position, the IOC must do the right thing, protect its athletes and the fans, and move the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Russia,” said Takei in an entry on his blog.
“The International Olympic Committee’s fundamental principles include an unequivocal statement: ‘The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.’ In specific response to the Russian law, the IOC, in a recent interview, doubled down: ‘[We] would like to reiterate our long commitment to not discriminate against those taking part in the Olympic Games. The IOC is an open organization and athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.’ It appears Russia isn’t listening, and indeed now has raised the stakes by threatening arrests.”
“Nations are not judged merely on their might, but also by how they treat their most vulnerable,” said Takei. “Russia’s cynical and deplorable actions against the LGBT community have given license to hate groups within its borders to act with violence and impunity against a group, based solely on whom they were born to love. It now seeks to spread that hate abroad through its tainted Olympics. If Russia hopes to stand with the International Community, it must accept and adopt international principles of equality and non-discrimination.”
A petition is asking that the Olympics be moved to Vancouver, which was the host in 2010. To see and/or sign the petition, head to the link located here.
About The Author
As much as I find Russia’s stand on this to be ridiculous in this day and age, and I’m fully expecting people to make noise about this next year during the Olympics while over there, I do have to remind myself of the old “when in Rome…” saying. In other words, I don’t think I’d be too pleased if tourists came into my country and did not respect the local laws, no matter how backwards they may be.
How 1980 of the gay community. We’ve played this game before and it’s not like it really did anything useful. All it really did last time was mess up the chance of athletes to compete against each other. It’s time for the gay community to grow up and realize the World doesn’t revolve around them. Leave politics out of the Olympics!
How about, instead we leave politics out of people’s sex lives?
A quick glance through your comment history shows that you have a history of anti-gay sentiment, so I doubt you’re just a die-hard Olympics fan who just wants to give the athletes a chance!
Your recent take on a former child celebrity coming out — “How disappointing…”
Your recent comment on gays being allowed to donate blood — “This is seriously scary. Could this be the return of HIV in full-force in our country, all for the sake of being PC? Is the gay community really willing to put the rest of us at risk to make themselves feel better? Could they really be that selfish and blind?”
Your recent thoughts on Supreme Court decisions — “I don’t know where you get your history from, but it was same-sex whoredoms that destroyed both of those once powerful nations just the same as it will destroy us if we stay on this path.”
I could go on and on (your comment history sure does!). You seem to have a real hang-up about gays.
So, do me a favor — stop criticizing others for bringing “their politics” into discourse and discussion.
Fuck you, bigot.
It is ridiculous, and it is a also bit different from “Don’t spit on the sidewalk” or “don’t poop on the President’s head no matter how soundly he’s sleeping.” (I confess the last one was a surprise to me, i mean who could have known?)
My problem with it is this. Russian “anti-propaganda” laws are very poorly defined, leaving them open to very broad interpretation, as a lot of laws intended to regulate morality are. Additionally, the statement by Russia’s own sports minister, a government official, is tantamount to “Don’t let the sun set on your ass in
town, ni– I mean, faggot.” Let’s also mention that violence against gays is implicitly tolerated in Russia; it’s rarely prosecuted, and when it is, it’s a slap on the wrist and a finger-wag.
That being said… I’m late for anger management. Thankfully it’s not court-ordered this time.
Liberalistic fascists, especialy Takei. Way to go for mother Russia. 🙂
I don’t understand. I get why people would object to Russia’s laws regarding homosexuals and whatnot, but herein their concern seems to be about outsiders coming in and telling them how to run their country. I don’t see anywhere where it indicates that Russia is barring homosexual athletes from other nations, restricting their movements, or anything else, other than saying they don’t have the right to go about conducting propaganda against the Russians, the Russian laws, or anything therein. Now, as Americans or others from countries with a tradition of freedoms, that rankles us. But, the IOC awarded these games to Russia. I didn’t hear this uproar from Takei when the summer games, a far more lucrative endeavor, mind you, were awarded to China… Oh, but wait, those fundamental human freedoms he was talking about there are kind of like when Jews only suggest Hitler killed 6 million people… Forget the 5 million souls that weren’t Jewish… and forget the humans here that were religious, Tibetan, or anything else the Chinese have been cracking down on or occupying for 60+ years….
These people are going there to play sports. Why would they, or anyone else, feel the need to question the host country’s politics? And if they wanted to do that, this isn’t the time, the time is long since passed. Were these objections being raised during the selection process, certainly, I think that would be appropriate. But now that the IOC has chosen the city, since the host country isn’t going to do anything to anyone who isn’t trying to violate their sovereignty, well, I don’t see an issue.
We can not like it all we want, but to try to force another nation to do what we want with their laws and feel how we want them to feel about something where, truth be told, they’re in the mainstream of western society over the last 5000 years, just isn’t going to happen…
And as Star Trek fans, we, ourselves, should respect the Prime Directive and let other cultures develop how they see fit.
I have said previously that attempting to do overseas what has been done in the United States would simply not work. Russia is egocentric and is not going to give up its culture simply because folks who read the Huffington Post think they are going to do some JuiceBox Mafia moves. The blunt fact is that it is far more likely that Russia is able to isolate America than America is to isolate Russia, and there are reasons for that (everyone else wishing to take the “big dog” down a peg being a main one).
So, I will reiterate what I have said before–it is simply time to have a decent respect for the opinions of mankind and argue in detail, and with logic and reason, not uudt emotion, *why* you think you are right, because on the international scene, unlike the United States, you simply don’t have control of the cultural institutions that allow you to demonize opposition with impunity.
It is not up to opponents to defend themselves, and on the international scene they simply won’t bother. It is up to you to make your case, and peel away support.
uudt is not “ultra underwater demolition team”, but “just”.
And I will also say that this entire thing is the fruits of using the tactics that have been used to date. Sometimes it is just better to come out and say exactly what you want, why you want it, and what the ultimate end state will be–even if initially you are rejected.
Folks in places like Russia have seen the redults of the methods of incrementalism and “getting results any which way” (usually courts) done here, and they thus already have shields up. You are simply going to have to convince them, because a man like Putin won’t give a hang what a court says. He’ll say he represents Russia more than they do.
“So, I will reiterate what I have said before–it is simply time to have a decent respect for the opinions of mankind and argue in detail, and with logic and reason, not uudt emotion, *why* you think you are right, because on the international scene, unlike the United States, you simply don’t have control of the cultural institutions that allow you to demonize opposition with impunity.”
That’s a fact and a reality I wish more Americans understood.
Liberal… fascists. Liberal… fascists. You didn’t quite think that one through, did you?
I normally just vote up and leave it at that, but this is a perfect example of the ignorance of some people. Terminology used without having the slightest idea on what it actually means. And if i may be so bold…I bet he`s American.