Stephen Fry calls for Sochi Olympics ban over gay rights, Russia insists rights not violated
British actor and writer Stephen Fry has issued an urgent call for a wide ban on Russia’s Sochi Olympic Games in response to the country’s “gay propaganda” law. But Moscow insists the law serves to protect children - not persecute LGBT individuals.
Stephen Fry released a lengthy open letter on Wednesday, calling
for a ban on the Sochi Winter Olympics. The text stated that
Russia is making “scapegoats” of LGBT individuals -
“just as Hitler did Jews.”
“An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 in
Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah,
Lillehammer, anywhere you like,” Fry stated, addressing
British Prime Minister David Cameron and the International
Olympic Committee.
Putin “may claim that the ‘values’ of Russia are not the
‘values’ of the West, but this is absolutely in opposition to
Peter the Great’s philosophy, and against the hopes of millions
of Russians,” Fry wrote.
With the six-month countdown to the Olympic Games in the Black
Sea resort of Sochi due to start this week, Russia finds itself
in a boiling pot over the gay propaganda law which was enacted at
the end of June.
Over the strengthening chorus of international reprimand and calls to boycott the games (and Russian vodka), authorities are forced time and again to clear up the intentions behind the fresh piece of legislation and explain how it will be applied during the games.
“There is no infringement of individuals’ [rights] based on
their sexual orientation, neither at the Olympics or up until the
Olympics, and there will not be after. This legislation does not
provide for it,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who is
in charge of planning the Olympic Games, stated on Wednesday.
He underlined that the legislation is directed at the promotion
of the gay lifestyle to minors. “People can go about their
private lives…the main thing is that they do not affect the
children,” he said.
The gay propaganda ban intensified fines for the promotion of
homosexual lifestyles to minors, including through media, the
internet, and viral adverts.
The “promotion” also involves the holding of LGBT rallies
in public and distributing material which facilitates the
formation of “non-traditional” sexual concepts in the
minds of children.
The law states that Russian individuals can be fined up to 5,000
rubles ($152) for distributing such information. Penalties are
stricter for foreigners, who can be detained in prison for up to
15 days and deported from the country.
Officials must pay 50,000 rubles (approximately $ 1,500) and
companies a further 500,000 rubles ($15,165). Using the media or
the internet for the promotion of non-traditional sexual
relations carries even harsher punishments, with individuals
being forced to pay up to 100,000 rubles ($3,000).
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special
representative for human rights, urged the public not to
politicize the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, expressing hope
that visitors would respect Russia’s traditions and abide by the
country’s laws.
The Russian law against “gay propaganda” is not going to apply to
the participants or guests of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics,
according to Igor Ananskikh, the head of the Russian Duma
Committee on physical training, sports and youth.
The International Olympic Committee said in a statement that it
had “received assurances from the highest level of government in
Russia that the legislation will not affect those attending or
taking part in the Games.”
