Tag: Sochi Olympics

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Sochi Olympics 2014: “We Are All Athletes”

This video – “We Are All Athletes” – features athletes of varying gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and abilities.

Included in the video is openly gay hockey player Chris Brand hugging another man as they exit the rink.

From the US State Department via press release:

In honor of Team USA’s participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics (February 7-23) and Paralympics (March 7-16) in Sochi, Russia, the U.S. Department of State has produced a one-minute video highlighting the diversity of the U.S. athletes competing in the Games as well as everyday Americans. The video focuses on the theme “We Are All Athletes,” to promote diversity, social inclusion, sportsmanship, and teamwork.

“We Are All Athletes” showcases U.S. Olympians, Paralympians, and recreational athletes of various backgrounds, including gender, race and ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and abilities.

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NFL’s Brendon Ayanbadejo for Principle 6

NFL Super Bowl champion Brendon Ayanbadejo stands up with Principle 6.
From the official website: “Principle 6, a campaign inspired by the values of the Olympic charter, is a way for athletes, fans and global supporters to celebrate the Olympic principle of non-discrimination and call for an end to Russia’s anti-gay laws before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.”
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Russian President Putin on This Week with George Stephanopoulos

Via Mediaite:

In the second segment of George Stephanopoulos’ interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ABC host pressed Putin on the controversy over Russia’s heightened anti-LGBT laws, which have led to calls for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics.

Putin argued that the laws were not repressive, and that the United States had no room in which to criticize on gay rights, given its own statutes.  Said Putin:

“Acts of protest and acts of propaganda are somewhat different things. They are close, but if we were to look at them from the legal perspective, then protesting a law does not amount to propaganda of sexuality or sexual abuse of children. That’s one.

“Two is that I’d like to ask our colleagues, my colleagues and friends, that as they try to criticize us, they would do well to set their own house in order first. I did say, after all, and this is public knowledge, that in some of the states in the U.S., homosexuality remains a felony.

Stephanopolous pointed out that “the Supreme Court has struck those laws down.”

Watch the interview above from ABC News.

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Mary Matalin on This Week with George Stephanopoulos

GOP strategist Mary Matalin makes this odd comment on This Week With George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning regarding Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBT controversy saying it’s no biggie because Matalin’s gay friends all think Putin’s hot.

“Can I just say, I’m so sick of sports and politics,” Matalin said. “All of my gay friends think he looks so buff when he is shirtless. Why is he even talking about this?”

To be honest, I don’t know what on earth she means.  What a strange comment…

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Russian President Putin on gays at the Sochi Olympics: “Leave children alone please”

President Putin of Russia says gay Olympians have nothing to fear when attending the Sochi Olympics as long as they leave children alone.

“We don’t have a ban on non-traditional sexual relations between people,” Putin told a group of volunteers who will be working at the Games.

“We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia,” Putin said in televised comments from host city Sochi, with three weeks to go until the event.

“We don’t ban anything and we won’t arrest anyone,” he said. “Therefore you can feel calm, relaxed. But leave children alone please.”

Ironically, uniforms for volunteers for the Games have been designed with a rainbow theme. When asked by a volunteer if the rainbow might breach the “gay propaganda” law, Putin responded by saying he didn’t design the uniforms.

(source)

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Billie Jean King on The Colbert Report

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Tennis legend Billie Jean King returns to The Colbert Report to discuss the upcoming Sochi Olympics, and her role as an official member of the U.S. delegation.

King said she isn’t planning a protest “but if the media asks me a question, I’m gonna answer it!”

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19 year old Jason Brown’s exciting “free skate” at 2014 US National Championships

Jason Brown at the 2014 US National Skating Championships

Check out 19 year-old Jason Brown’s performance at the 2014 US National Skating Championships.

Very talented, connects to the audience.  And they clearly connect back.

BUT – he doesn’t have a quadruple jump. Can a male skater win the ‘free skate’ without a quad?

What a performance. The audience is standing before he even finishes.

And then, there’s the score…

Watch below. Really exciting.

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NBC’s Bob Costas: We will be talking about Russia’s anti-gay laws at Sochi Olympics

The Huffington Post is reporting that NBC Sports anchor Bob Costas said yesterday at a press event that NBC will not ignore Russia’s anti-gay laws during their coverage of the Sochi Olympics:

“If Putin doesn’t drag his butt into the studio, then we’ll talk about it without him,” Costas said during an Olympics press preview.

“But if he shows up, we’d rather talk to him. Wouldn’t you rather hear it from the horse’s mouth? I would. That’s what I was trying to say.”