Tag: Russia

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Russian gold medalists kiss at medal ceremony in protest of “homosexual propaganda” laws

This picture makes me “happy dance.”

Last night, Kseniya Ryzhova and Tatyana Firova, two members of Russia’s women’s 4×400 relay team, defied their nation’s ban on “homosexual propaganda” when they kissed on the podium during the presentation ceremony for their gold medals at the World Track & Field Championships in Moscow.

Pay attention International Olympic Committee and US Olympic Team – even Russian athletes know how to show moral leadership and courage.

 

Also last night at the World Track & Field Championships, Finnish Minister of Culture & Sports Paavo Arhinmäki waved a rainbow flag during the competition.

Russia, you may make your silly, bigoted laws, but strong, authentic, people are going to be who they are. They will stand for what they believe.  Period.

Forward.

(via JMG)

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Russian TV host fired after coming out on the air

Anton Krasovsky, a host and editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-backed KontrTV, came out during a broadcast Friday night. “I’m gay, and I’m just the same person as you, my dear audience, as President Putin, as Prime Minister Medvedev and the deputies of our Duma,” Kravosky said.

Shortly after that broadcast, Krasovsky was fired.

“I have made a lot of money in television and I understood that I’d lose everything,” he said about his decision to go forward with coming out. “But I also understood that I couldn’t do anything else. I didn’t do it so that I would get hundreds of likes on my Facebook page. I did it because I wanted them to hear it in the Kremlin. And they heard it, and were surprised.”

Video of his coming out announcement has been deleted from KontrTV’s website and YouTube.

(Via Daily Mail)

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Rainbow fingernail scandal in the sports world

Controversy erupted at the World Athletic Championships in Moscow over Swedish high-jumper Emma Green Tregaro’s nails, which she painted in rainbow colors to show support for LGBT people in Russia suffering under the country’s harsh and prohibitive anti-gay laws. Those laws forbid the dissemination of “propaganda” that promotes “non-traditional” sexual practices to minors. Though vague, many believe the laws can and will be construed to punish shows of support for LGBT rights such as the donning of pins, ribbons, or even painting one’s nails.

Though Green Tregaro was not arrested for her “advocacy,” her display of solidarity comes just days after the IOC announced it would not allow similar displays of support at the Sochi Olympics.

However, Green Tregaro’s gesture did not sit well with Russian pole-vaulting great and “mayor” of one of the Olympic villages in Sochi, Yelena Isinbayeva. Reuters reports:

“It’s disrespectful to our country, disrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians,” Isinbayeva, speaking hesitantly in English, told a news conference.

“Maybe we are different than European people and people from different lands. We have our law which everyone has to respect. When we go to different countries, we try to follow their rules. We are not trying to set our rules over there. We are just trying to be respectful.

We are not trying to set our rules over there. We are just trying to be respectful. We consider ourselves, like normal, standard people, we just live boys with women, girls with boys … it comes from the history. I hope the problem won’t ruin our Olympic Games in Sochi,” added the 31-year-old, who is one of Russia’s best known athletes and won her third pole vault world title in front of an enthralled crowd on Tuesday.

The use of the words “normal” and “standard” raised some eyebrows.  Today, Isinbayeva had this to say, qualifying her original statement:

“English is not my first language and I think I may have been misunderstood when I spoke yesterday. What I wanted to say was that people should respect the laws of other countries particularly when they are guests. But let me make it clear I respect the views of my fellow athletes, and let me state in the strongest terms that I am opposed to any discrimination against gay people on the grounds of their sexuality.”

(source)

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Proctor & Gamble on Russian TV

From Bilerico:

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that “barely an hour goes by on Russia’s biggest TV networks without at least one ad from Procter & Gamble.” The Russian government owns or is a major shareholder in most of Russia’s television stations, so every time Procter & Gamble purchases an ad on those networks, the company puts money directly into the pockets of the Russian government and finances Putin’s bloody crusade against LGBT people.”

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Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea vs Russia’s Alexy Sorokin

“Would you like a World Cup where naked people are running around displaying their homosexuality?

“The answer to that is quite obvious. The Olympics and World Cup are not a stage for various views, not for Nazis, not for any other ways of life. It should be about football and nothing else. They have nothing more to fear. They have guarantees and assurances that they will not be affected. The minister of sport [Vitaly Mutko] has given a full and detailed explanation.

“It would be strange to see someone choose such an event as the Olympic Games as a stage to propogate these ideas. We suppose people come to participate or to watch and be part of it not to display their views. Private life should remain private.” – Russian World Cup head Alexey Sorokin, speaking to World Football Insider.

To which Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers had this to tweet:

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American Kennel Club CEO urges moving 2016 World Dog Show out of Russia

“On behalf of the American Kennel Club, our member clubs, and the American purebred dog fancy, we urge you to move the 2016 World Dog Show from Russia to a nation that respects and upholds human rights for all its citizens. The international dog community deserves to enjoy the World Dog Show in a place that stands for freedom and equal rights for all. AKC cannot and will not support participation in the 2016 World Dog Show if it is held in Russia.

“As exhibitors, breeders, handlers and trainers, we teach our dogs many things. But there is no denying, they teach us too. Our bond with dogs is not defined by the type of person who holds the leash. We cannot support competition in an environment where tolerance does not exist.” – From the chairman and the CEO of the American Kennel Club.

(h/t JMG)

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President Obama cancels meeting with Putin, has no patience for anti-gay laws

The White House announced Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a one-on-one meeting this September because of the country’s record on human rights, among other conflicts that have arisen like granting asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The meeting was scheduled to take place after the G-20 summit in St. Petersberg. The meeting was canceled due to a “lack of progress on issues like missile defense, arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said according to the Washington Blade.

The announcement followed Obama’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Tuesday in a wide-sweeping interview, which included conversations on the economy, the Affordable Care Act, and the current law in Russia that places a ban on so-called homosexual propaganda.

(via Advocate)

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Eighty-three members of Congress ask Sec. of State Kerry for protections for LGBT Olympic athletes

A letter penned by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and co-signed by 83 members of the US House has been sent to Secretary of State John Kerry demanding protections for LGBT athletes at the Sochi Olympics. From the letter:

We applaud the State Department’s commitment to ensuring that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons abroad, and the actions your agency has already taken to communicate concerns about the overall direction on LGBT rights in Russia directly to the Russian government.

In light of the importance of U.S. leadership on LGBT issues, and the quickly-approaching Sochi Games, we urge the State Department to determine the appropriate course of action to assure the safety and well being of LGBT and LGBT— supporting individuals involved in or attending the 2014 Sochi Olympics and Paralympics.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding what efforts have been undertaken, especially efforts undertaken in coordination with other foreign governments, and are committed to working together with you on this issue.

Buzzfeed has the full list of signees.

Contradicting statements have been made on the issue of Russia’s anti-gay laws and the upcoming Sochi Olympics. Despite claims to the contrary by the IOC, last week Russian officials said that both athletes and attendees of the Sochi Olympics will indeed to be subject to arrest under Russia’s “homosexual propaganda” ban.

(via Huffington Post)