Olympics in Sochi: Now a 'Symbol of Intolerance' (De Morgen, Belgium)
"From the free expression of the Pussy Riot women, to the draconian measures against Russia's
muzzled press, to the anti-gay laws and the unbelievable anti-gay violence: a
lot of people in the world have woken up and are defending the principle that
has long been legally established in this country - that discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation is not permissible, and that gays and lesbians have
exactly the same rights as heterosexuals, including on matters of love and
marriage."
There
is no need to tell us that Russian President Putin won't lose any sleep over a
position of this newspaper, and certainly not if it it's along the lines of
"we are warning you for the last time." Besides, Putin's Russia is by
no means the only country in the world where anti-gay laws are in force. In
quite a few African countries, the penalties and the aversion to homosexuality
is a lot bigger. Even in the United States, however, there are still eight
states with anti-gay measures that are fully comparable to those in Russia.
One
of these eight states is Utah, where the Winter Olympics were held in 2002. There,
the local government prohibits teaching staff in schools to advocate
homosexuality. So there is still a lot of work to be done there as well.
But
that doesn't take away from the fact that these Winter Games have now become a
symbol: not for Russia’s ability to promote itself; and not to show that they
can bring events of this size to a successful conclusion. No, human rights
organizations have seized on these Games to execute one of their most
successful campaigns in years.
From
the free expression of the Pussy Riot women, to the
draconian measures against Russia's muzzled press, to the anti-gay laws and the
unbelievable anti-gay violence: a lot of people in the world have woken up and
are defending the principle that has long been legally established in this
country - that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not permissible,
and that gays and lesbians have exactly the same rights as heterosexuals,
including on matters of love and marriage.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
In
an open letter before the Opening Ceremonies, more than two hundred
internationally-renowned writers led by Günter Grass, Salman
Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and Jonathan Franzen, along
with Erwin Mortier and ArnonGrunberg, have criticized the stranglehold that these
anti-gay laws have on free speech.
We
should have no illusions: President Putin has never shown much respect for
democratic freedoms and free sexuality between consenting adult partners in the
past, and he didn't change his mind at the Opening Ceremony.
But
now the free world has issued a very strong signal that the road to equal
opportunity and reasonable rights is irrevocable and is unwavering. Furthermore,
that all writers, artists, journalists and gay people in Russia can count on our
solidarity. Perhaps this will help the mayor of Sochi, who claims that there
are no gay people in his city, to obtain an inkling of reality.
