International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach delivered a stinging rebuke to the national leaders who are not coming to the Olympics in reaction to the anti-gay law enacted by the Russian duma last year. The law makes it illegal to "promote" homosexuality -- and it makes clear that even identifying yourself as gay in public or advertising gay events constitute "promoting."
Russia has said that the law will not be used against Olympic athletes, but it has set itself up for protests -- at least in subtle ways, like simply wearing rainbow colors. What about athletes' families and others attending the games? Will they also be exempt from arrest? What about the license for anti-gay violence that this law unleashes?
Bach declared that there is no place for politics in the Olympiad and that everyone should refrain from any sort of political statements or protest demonstrations. It seemed clear that he was referring, among other things, to the fact that President Obama has chosen three openly gay/lesbian athletes and former Olympians to lead the official U. S. observer delegation.
Bach's statement itself is offensive. Reducing what is a moral issue of equal rights and free speech to "political statements" is, at best, ignorant; at worst, it is pandering to the power-hungry Putin.
Putin and his cohorts are the ones who injected politics by passing this offensive law just before hosting the Olympics. It was a bald power-display to show he could thumb his nose at more progressive nations. Did he think the world would just fall in line and comply with his suppressive tactics?
Well, apparently, the IOC has fallen in line.
Ralph
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