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Fortunately, Nazi Germany didn't arrest Jesse Owens upon arrival to the country. Russia has made it clear that they will not afford the same freedom to gays and

by ihsw 13y ago

Fortunately, Nazi Germany didn't arrest Jesse Owens upon arrival to the country. Russia has made it clear that they will not afford the same freedom to gays and lesbians, or more to the point they plan on arresting them immediately upon arrival.

GotAnyMegadeth 13y ago
I thought that they were going to ignore the anti-LGBT laws for the Olympics [0] [0] http://rt.com/news/russia-olympics-gay-law-948/ http://rt.com/news/russia-olympics-gay-law-948/
- bayesianhorse 13y ago
  They clarified later that they are going to enforce that law.
  - hedgie13 13y ago
    They clarified: the law does not prohibit being gay, the law just introduces fines for promoting homosexuality as a norm for children under 16. It is probably a bad law, but it is not saying what everyone protesting it thinks it is saying.
ronaldx 13y ago
Do you have a source for that? I agree there is not a nice atmosphere (as there wasn't for Owens), but your suggestion that athletes will be arrested on arrival is simply not evident. Minister Vitaly Mutko... "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable" In any case, arresting athletes is sure to provoke immediate international outrage.
- ihsw 13y ago
  > If a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn't have the authority. Vitaly was interviewed once again, recently. Take your pick: http://www.ibtimes.com/george-takei-move-2014-winter-olympics-out-russia-1374805 http://www.ibtimes.com/george-takei-move-2014-winter-olympic... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/russia-anti-gay-olympic-games-sochi_n_3676311.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/russia-anti-gay-oly... http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggests-gay-athletes-prosecuted-2014-winter/storynew?id=19829868 http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggest... http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/russia-anti-gay-laws-2014-olympics-article-1.1413465 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/russia-anti-gay-laws-2014-...
guard-of-terra 13y ago
Why would they? It's not a crime to be gay. The crime is "gay propaganda" (that is, anything that publicly references gays basically). You're not helping anyone by spreading FUD.
- noarchy 13y ago
  It isn't FUD. You're basically saying it is ok, as long as gays keep their mouths shut, and don't utter "propaganda".
  - guard-of-terra 13y ago
    No, I'm saying you should't expect to get prosecuted for something that isn't crime. I'm saying you should have your facts straight.
- hedgie13 13y ago
  No, this is not true. It is probably a bad law, but "anything that publicly references gays" is not a crime. The law only establishes a fine (not prison term) for promoting homosexuality as a norm for children under 16. Personally, I do not see how you could do it without being prosecuted for violating "Obscene publications act" in UK or similar laws in US. There was fairly similar law in Britain until 2003: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 Also, I should note there is no protests supporting gay rights in Saudi Arabia were homosexuality is punished by death. Also see: https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/somewhere-over-the-rainbow-the-west-calls-the-gay-to-arms-against-russia/ https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/somewhere-over-th... , https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/warning-explicit-same-sex-content-fifteen-and-under-welcome/ https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/warning-explicit-... Biased, but biased in a different way then usual articles on this subject and therefore useful.

by ihsw 13y ago

GotAnyMegadeth 13y ago

I thought that they were going to ignore the anti-LGBT laws for the Olympics [0] [0] http://rt.com/news/russia-olympics-gay-law-948/ http://rt.com/news/russia-olympics-gay-law-948/

bayesianhorse 13y ago
They clarified later that they are going to enforce that law.
- hedgie13 13y ago
  They clarified: the law does not prohibit being gay, the law just introduces fines for promoting homosexuality as a norm for children under 16. It is probably a bad law, but it is not saying what everyone protesting it thinks it is saying.

ronaldx 13y ago

Do you have a source for that? I agree there is not a nice atmosphere (as there wasn't for Owens), but your suggestion that athletes will be arrested on arrival is simply not evident. Minister Vitaly Mutko... "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable" In any case, arresting athletes is sure to provoke immediate international outrage.

ihsw 13y ago
> If a law has been approved by the federal legislature and signed by the president, then the government has no right to suspend it. It doesn't have the authority. Vitaly was interviewed once again, recently. Take your pick: http://www.ibtimes.com/george-takei-move-2014-winter-olympics-out-russia-1374805 http://www.ibtimes.com/george-takei-move-2014-winter-olympic... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/russia-anti-gay-olympic-games-sochi_n_3676311.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/russia-anti-gay-oly... http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggests-gay-athletes-prosecuted-2014-winter/storynew?id=19829868 http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-lawmaker-suggest... http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/russia-anti-gay-laws-2014-olympics-article-1.1413465 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/russia-anti-gay-laws-2014-...

guard-of-terra 13y ago

Why would they? It's not a crime to be gay. The crime is "gay propaganda" (that is, anything that publicly references gays basically). You're not helping anyone by spreading FUD.

noarchy 13y ago
It isn't FUD. You're basically saying it is ok, as long as gays keep their mouths shut, and don't utter "propaganda".
- guard-of-terra 13y ago
  No, I'm saying you should't expect to get prosecuted for something that isn't crime. I'm saying you should have your facts straight.
hedgie13 13y ago
No, this is not true. It is probably a bad law, but "anything that publicly references gays" is not a crime. The law only establishes a fine (not prison term) for promoting homosexuality as a norm for children under 16. Personally, I do not see how you could do it without being prosecuted for violating "Obscene publications act" in UK or similar laws in US. There was fairly similar law in Britain until 2003: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 Also, I should note there is no protests supporting gay rights in Saudi Arabia were homosexuality is punished by death. Also see: https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/somewhere-over-the-rainbow-the-west-calls-the-gay-to-arms-against-russia/ https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/somewhere-over-th... , https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/warning-explicit-same-sex-content-fifteen-and-under-welcome/ https://marknesop.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/warning-explicit-... Biased, but biased in a different way then usual articles on this subject and therefore useful.