LGBT Athletes in Sochi

MaxBerkowitz

MaxBerkowitz

Member
As you may know already, Russia is incredibly homophobic. Russia recently introduced a law that makes it "illegal to spread information about non-traditional sexual behaviour." Basically, gay pride rallies are banned, publicly stating you are gay to a minor is banned, and if you read between the lines, free speech is banned.

Four Dutch tourists were arrested and jailed after interviewing a gay 17 year old for their film on gay rights issues in Murmansk.

It gets worse.

Vitaly Milonov, one of the lawmakers behind the "Homosexual Propaganda" law has stated that athletes in Sochi will have to abide by these rules. That means any LGBT athletes will not be able to be with their loved one for support during the olympics. If an athlete speaks out about the gay rights atrocities in Russia, they will suffer severe consequences.

Here's where NS comes in. There are multiple athletes competing in the 2014 Olympic Games who regularly read this site. If you're on an olympic team, you can help out. Next time you have an interview on National Television, talk about gay rights in Russia. It's that easy. Spend 5 minutes talking about how disappointed you are with Russia's "Homosexual Propaganda" law. Let the world know what's going on.

NS, rate this up so everyone can see it on the splash page!

Share it to Facebook and Twitter!

If you have a friend who is competing in the Olympics (seems like everyone claims they do) tell them!

Thanks folks.
 
This is so messed up... I completely see where you're coming from with wanting to spread the wrongness of it all and I hope that some people will on a large scale. I personally would be hesitant to do so going into Russia based on how rash they have been about it all.. Could maybe even be dangerous to have that kind of spotlight on you?
 
It makes russia look terrible globally.

If Tammy Wallnuts won Gold in Slopestyle, he would be on news shows everywhere. If half of those shows had even a sentence of him talking about how lame Russia is, the general population would be angrier at the new law.
 
I strongly support this thread and am deeply disturbed by the possibility of legal action by Russia against LGBTQ athletes in Sochi.
 
Russia does not want to have anything bad happen to the athletes, as it would turn into an international scandal. They won't arrest anyone for talking about gay rights prior to being in Russia.
 
or Russia would just be angry at him.

like I don't think you understand the worldwide shit storm it could start.
 
The IOC(international olympic committee) has gotten confirmation from the governement in russia that anybody attending or competing wont be affected by the legislation
 
A worldwide shit storm is a good thing. This law is incredibly discriminatory, and should not be a law in a major country that's hosting the fucking olympics. Russia is homophobic, and this NEEDS to change before the olympics happen and everyone thinks that Russia is great and they wear cute fur hats and bounce in zorbs.
 
No, not end thread

His point is that Olympic athletes need to protest human rights abuses in Russia. NOT that they need to be arrested in the process
 
^Thank you.

The fact that Russia has reversed their standpoint on Olympic Athletes being Queer, does not mean that the issues in Russia are resolved.
 
I'm not necessarily talking about the government doing things as much as I am the anti gay rights people. I don't know if you've seen or read any of the recent news articles on this particular topic (hopefully you have) but people (gay and straight) have been getting the absolute shit beat out of at peaceful protests and there were even cases where people just talking about it were being attacked. Again just seems like something that a lot of people wouldn't want to be in the spotlight for while attending the Olympics..
 
Yeah, it's just awful.

However, Russia does not want the world to see the headline "Johnny Weir Assaulted in Russia by Homophobic Group", so they will keep athletes heavily guarded.
 
I know this is never coming to happen, but the Best thing to do would be to just not attend, and then let the whole world know, that it is because of that shit!
 
I'm Russian and I don't want to see that gay shit on tv and I'm don't give a fuck about that homophobe shit. If you want to spread that, do it in your own non homophobic country non in ours..
 
You actually want to watch what you call "Gay Shit" and you want to fuck other guys but you've been stopped by your country for doing what you really want to do, so now you're angry and want to block any desires out of your head. Now I'm not going to watch any of your shit because you're an ignorant fuck.
 
the Olympics are and should remain a celebration and contest of sportnot the place to advance or spread your message of political or social change.
 
You just went and lost a huge part of your following in Europe and North America. It is truly sad that people like you even exist. To have you represent a life style and sport that I love and am passionate about makes me sick to my stomach, and to be honest it is mind boggling how you have come to be involved in a life style that has always been about the freedom to be who you are and be proud of it.

I do choose to believe that you are a product of the environment in which you were raised, and maybe travelling around the world to ski and meet other people will change your perspective, but for right now I'm officially boycotting Life Steeze Media, and I sincerely hope the rest of NS will join me. You need to wake up and enter the 21st century along with the rest of us.
 
No, it should most certainly be a place to address a serious issue like human rights. If we decide to suspend human rights for the sake of a contest, what is the next step? Human rights should never be violated, and should always be defended ferociously at any and all cost. If not, history teaches us what will happen.
 
I'm not against human rights, I'm against imposing different opinion to people to people who don't share it. if most of the people in russia dont want to see lgbt propaganda, then why they should?
 
"Propaganda"You guys are fucking idiots. The only propaganda being pushed is your governments against any person who's not straight.
 
You do realise that you are contradicting yourself, right? It's not okay for LGBT people to "push" their opinions on you (just for the record, that's not what they are doing, they just want the right to be who they are) but it's okay for you to push your opinions on them? You should look up human rights and logic, you might learn something.
 
Wow, respect lost. You guys are amazing skiers but seriously, how fucking dense are you?

It's not propoganda, it's a matter of basic human rights. do you hate black people too? Do you think everybody but the WASPS should be oppressed?
 
take-seat.gif
 
On another note, I think we should now start posting every gay website/video/picture we can find on the internet on Life Cheeze Media's facebook wall. Ill start.
 
Why should people in Russia want to see anti lgbt propaganda from the government, with its unlimited opinion-imposing resources?
 
I was thinking more "Reason 4936483198475619384765918346 why Russia is a sketchball place nobody should go... Ever. For any reason."

 
There is a difference between imposing and allowing. No one is imposing gay rights upon you. No one says you HAVE to like it. But allowing it? Come on. Let people love the person they love without worrying about being punished. I hope you would feel the same way if someone in your family or crew came out.

If you dont like gay people, dont marry one. Simple enough.

 
Having different sexualities = propaganda? Lol please die. No one can't ''pressure'' anyone to like dicks, that just doesn't happen. It's all natural.
 
1. It's not in our country, not our business to worry about it (assuming your from the US, either way, your not from Russia)

2. Asking for someone to start talking about such touchy subjects as sexuality on TV is a lot to ask for. Your now risking that athletes reputation, as there could be many fans who have the same beliefs as Russia.

3. Five minutes on TV is a lot more than you think. Most interviews don't really go much more than 5 minutes alone. Most of them occur right after an event and take about 5 minutes in itself, so to add five more minutes on talking about gay rights is not going to make the network the event is on happy either, because your wasting their time and a lot of people might look at the network as having the same beliefs and not appreciating the network using the Olympics to showcase their beliefs (not saying it is the networks fault, just putting the other perspectives out there).

I see where your coming from, it's just too much to ask for.
 
guys, there's a misunderstanding i suppose..

the first thing is that the law restricts homosexual propaganda among people, who is under 18

i think that's good point, cause a child can be easily brainwashed, it's like to permit children to buy alchohol or cigarettes..

and yes, we don't want our children to watch gay propaganda on TV

the second thing i'd like to mention, is that the main idea of the sochi games is...the games i suppose

and we're going to watch sports and no one cares if you'd go there with your "loved one"

no one restricts you to hug,kiss there etc...

just don't flaun it

p.s. i'm russian and don't go out on the streets propoganding geterosexuality and screaming that being straight is super cool

 
HOW THE FUCK IS THERE PROPAGANDA, I DON'T SEE ADVERTS SAYING "BE GAY, IT'S GOOD" ANYWHERE???????? All you Russians are the children who were brainwashed
 
While I see where OP is coming from, agree with the general idea, and strongly disagree with how Russia has been oppressing people based on their sexual preferences, I don't see such a scenario doing any good. Because it is not the Russian government acting on his own here, the homophobic laws are, unfortunately, only reflecting the general opinion of the Russians about homosexuals, sadly even LifeSteezeMedia.

That's why such a social change need to come from within, not from foreigners athletes spending 3 weeks in Sochi, it would only stir the pot and make things worse, in my opinion.

 
Seeing from this thread, Life Steeze Media lost a ton of followers in Europe and in North America, including myself. I don't understand why people are making a big fuss about keeping LGBTQ rights out of their country. I'm a supporter of gay rights and I hope to see no one from any Olympic team, get arrested and face severe consequences simply because of their sexual beliefs. Any human on this planet wants to be with the person they love without worrying about any severe offenses/bull crap.

I honestly don't think that what the Russian government did was 100% right, nor do I want this to be pressured on any athletes from any outside country (outside of Russia) so that they don't have to fear about getting arrested because they support LGBTQ rights.
 
Oh my lord you guys are fucking thick! But I guess it takes a long time for a country to recover from 70 years of brainwash and government control, which, to make matters worse, was preceded by an Empire that never really made it out of the dark ages along with the rest of us. It appears that the desire to control or ban things they don't understand is still ripe in Russian society. God I hope this isn't representative of the whole freestyle scene in Russia, that would be incredibly sad.

Just to clarify, being gay is not a choice, just like being straight isn't a choice, it's something you are, period.
 
I think you have misunderstood the basic principles of human rights. It is not something that just magically appeared, it's something that people have fought and laid down their lives for. It is our responsibility, as human beings, to always make sure that these rights aren't infringed upon. How you go about it is your business, I can't make athletes bring up the subject, but it is indeed a responsibility we all share. Dialogue and information is the way to go, and just claiming that it is a Russian problem and therefore we shouldn't get involved, is denying the very premise of human rights. This is not about nationality or sport, it is about having the right to live free, and we all have a responsibility to protect that right.
 
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