In Russia, it is basically illegal to say that you are gay. You cannot kiss your partner in public. You can’t carry a rainbow flag in public. You can’t even acknowledge that you are gay, or else you face possible imprisonment and fines as do your friends and family.
Russia is now one of the most anti-gay places in the world. It is also staging the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, when the world is supposed to come together in a spirit of community and togetherness.
How can LGBT people and their families and friends be welcome, when they run the risk of being thrown in jail or fined just for being who they are?
RUSA LGBT, a Russian-speaking American association for members of the gay community, says that LGBT athletes and spectators will not be safe during the 2014 Olympic games. And given the Russian government’s recent actions toward LGBT people — including violent crackdowns on gay rights rallies and arrests of members of the LGBT community, how could anyone feel safe during these Olympic games?
Change.org the international petitioning website is calling on the major sponsors and partners of the Sochi 2014 Olympic games, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Samsung, Procter & Gamble, and Visa, to condemn Russia’s anti-gay laws, which are some of the most repressive laws in recent history, and pull their sponsorship from Russia’s Olympic games.
Do these corporate companies want to be tied to an Olympics where LGBT athletes and spectators could face harsh violence, prison, and brutality?
The time has come for these companies who masquerade as being ‘gay friendly’ to put their support for LGBT people first, and send a message to Russia and President Vladimir Putin that their anti-gay laws are not only contrary to basic human rights, but fly in the face of the spirit of the Olympic Games, which celebrate human dignity and community above all else.
To sign the petition, CLICK HERE:
