When Sochi, Russia was announced as the site for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the LGBT community used it as an opportunity to shine a light on the oppression of LGBT people in the region.
Numerous stories of the anti-LGBT bigotry of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies were shared with the world, and the LGBT community was horrified by the images that were shared.
Last night though, the Winter Olympics ended and the spotlight on the region will be further dimmed as it will no longer be the stage for one of the biggest events in the world.
With that said, we ask the question to you, Queerty readers: With The Olympics Over, Will We Still Care About Anti-LGBT Bigotry In Russia?
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Stefano
No.
hyhybt
Depends on who you mean by “we.”
Cam
The question should be, Will Queerty every start. Too busy trying to defend Johnny Weir and get us to drink Stoli to really go into what’s going on over in Russia.
balehead
Nobody worth their endorsements will criticize Russia…It was always about money….
fagburn
‘When Sochi, Russia was announced as the site for the 2014 Winter Olympics…’
It was announced in 2007, when did you decide it was an issue?
litper
@balehead: @fagburn: right-winger trolls are here
Cam
@fagburn:
Oh, are you pretending to post actual posts? Well nice try.
Considering that the Putin Law only came into being recently, but then again, if you at all were aware of gay issues you would have known that. Interesting that you didn’t.
hyhybt
@fagburn: Why would it have been an issue in 2007 when the offensive law wasn’t passed until 2013?
Stefano
Gays tried to use Olympics for their cause and they lost. The END.
xzall
I think the mainstream media will back off on its coverage so it’ll be up to the LGBT community to keep it and what’s happening in Uganda and Nigeria in the forefront.
Russia is hosting the Formula One race the Russian Grand Prix in October. If the law is still in effect that could be the next event to target.
MK Ultra
Well, Russia got what it wanted, a huge win during the Olympics. It was the PR event Putin hoped for.
So many people and groups with influence dropped the ball. Big corporations that appeased dictator Putin. Coca Cola and NBC in particular actually did PR for Russia and completely whitewashed the anti-gay hate.Coke tried shamelessly tried to pander to us by including in a commercial for a millisecond. NBC took out their token gays, first Thomas Roberts who said no anti-gay violence happens in Russia, gave Russia a raving review, and said that so far a single teacher has been fired as a result of the law. Then Johnny Weir once again said that there is no violence against gays in Russia, and the gays are the aggressor because they want to have anal sex in front of libraries.
That athletes didn’t say anything because they were too “afraid” of politics. They had no problem, however, heaping praise on both Putin and Russia. So glad there wasn’t a boycott so those poor, poor, innocent @ssholes didn’t have their ego trip ruined.
The truth is, we can’t really expect any help on any situation anywhere in the world, unless there is some sort of government or corporate reason to, like a fight for geo-political advantage. It sucks, but that is the injustice of the world.
Cam
@Stefano: said…
“Gays tried to use Olympics for their cause and they lost. The END.”
__________________
Which “Cause” would that be? You mean the cause of not wanting to have people arrested and tortured for being gay? Or the “Cause” of actually wanting the police to prosecute people for kidnapping and killing gays?
Were those the “Causes” you were talking about? You know, anti-torture and pro-being able to walk down the street in safety?
Stefano
France will probably backtrack on gay marriage…and i think that the rest of Europe will do the same.
@MK Ultra : You are absolutely right.
Cam
@Stefano:
You think the rest of Europe will backtrack on gay marriage? Why? They have done nothing but more forward on it for 20 years.
What is your reasoning?
Stefano
@Cam : what happens in France is likely to influence the rest of the Europe, maybe not soon but surely in a few years. There are many Muslims in Europe and they are very influential and very very anti-gay.
tada-no
@Stefano: You are correct. The Muslim immigrants in Europe are second generation and have strong influence over political decisions. The rise of Antisemitism and religious conservatism in Europe is directly tide to Muslim populations. It will be interesting to observe Western Europe’s safe heaven for LGBT in 30 years.
But for now lets not forget that in Uganda the situation for gays is more dire and life threatening with draconian laws that were recently signed. LGBT global activism should unite and pressure governments to sanction Uganda political leadership.
Kieran
Two years ago during the London Olympics, NBC trotted out Tom Brokaw and proceeded to give the country an HOUR long primetime lecture and history lesson about how brave and noble Londoners were during World War II. This year at the Sochi Olympics, NBC couldn’t even give five lousy minutes to condemn the War on gays in Russia. Thanks for nothing NBC.
Cam
@Stefano: said…
“@Cam : what happens in France is likely to influence the rest of the Europe, maybe not soon but surely in a few years. There are many Muslims in Europe and they are very influential and very very anti-gay.
_____________________-
1. No, the Scandinavian countries were ahead of France on this issue.
2. The muslims in France are not as influential as you think considering France outlawed them wearing burkas, veils and other restrictive religious coverings in public and all identifiable religious clothing in schools. The law has now been in place for a while and no backlash, no backtracking etc…
Stefano
@tada-no : “You are correct. The Muslim immigrants in Europe are second generation and have strong influence over political decisions. The rise of Antisemitism and religious conservatism in Europe is directly tide to Muslim populations. It will be interesting to observe Western Europe’s safe heaven for LGBT in 30 years.” Exactly.
stranded
Will the mass media care? No, after a while, there needs to be a new “hot-topic”
loren_1955
I wrote a letter to Pres. Obama suggesting that he use his executive powers to grant asylum to Russian gays given a high chance of torture and death under the current Russian laws. Have not heard from him or staff. At least doing something to our fellow brothers and sisters.
alterego1980
Gays in America won and continue to win our rights in spite of the uber conservative and religious for one reason; because this country is a democracy and there were no allowances to those who wanted to kill us and get rid of us.
That is not the case in other countries. They have dictatorships or something very similar. When gays in Russia, see us in the US & other progressive parts of the world, they think they can make a difference in their country. No doubt it will be tougher for them when violence against them is permitted and legalized.
Because of this, LGBT’s who have freedom and a voice should continue to lend it to those who are still persecuted across the world. That includes, Russia, Uganda, and even places such as Arizona and Kansas.
We all know that the media’s eye will lose focus on Russia and other places as the news cycle changes in a blink.
tdx3fan
I honestly do not believe the vast majority of Americans gave a crap to begin with, even when the olympics were there. We simply do not care about things that do not affect our daily lives in this country. What you saw in response was nothing more than a few very vocal advocates and maybe an internet petition or two (my dog could sign an internet petition if asked).
tdx3fan
@Cam: I think my biggest problem with the whole mess is that this is a region that has been known for outrageous human rights violations dating back to before WWI and we just now managed to care because a few gays were being persecuted. Almost the entirety of the left had written them off before that. I am not saying that it does not matter that gays are being persecuted, but if we want to be respected we might want to start by caring about people outside of our own subculture.
tdx3fan
@Stefano: You really should stop typing about things you absolutely have no freaking clue about. France MAY decide not to pass gay marriage, but the rest of Europe would rather have an open flaming dancing duo couple marry on the front lawn of their national capital than to allow you to bring your pathetic self to their country.
tdx3fan
@alterego1980: This is very confusingly worded. Actually, the United States claims to have freedom and respect for others. However, those other countries that you talk about (the entire rest of the primary countries in this world except for maybe China and Russia) are much more forward thinking and just as free. The only real difference is that they have safeguards in place to keep things like religious zealots from taking over their country.
Respect4all
Fact check: Gay marriage is now legal in France. There has been some very vocal opposition to it, mostly from right-wing French Christians, but there has been no legislative effort to repeal it. Muslim religious values have led to increased homophobia and anti-Semitism in France, the latter largely in response to the actions of the Israeli government in the West Bank/Palestine. However, despite being nearly ten percent of the population in France, Muslims face a great deal of discrimination and have virtually no political power. A few years ago I read that there were no Muslim members in the French parliament. I don’t know if that has changed, but they are certainly not 10% of the Parliament.
Joetx
@litper: You can add Stefano & tada-no to the list of trolls.
crowebobby
I love the Olympians who brought back those adorable street puppies (no sarcasm intended). Would have been great if each one had brought back a Russian victim of gay bashing as well.
Cam
@tdx3fan: Said….
: I think my biggest problem with the whole mess is that this is a region that has been known for outrageous human rights violations dating back to before WWI and we just now managed to care because a few gays were being persecuted. Almost the entirety of the left had written them off before that. I am not saying that it does not matter that gays are being persecuted, but if we want to be respected we might want to start by caring about people outside of our own subculture.
____________________________
The trouble is, that is the type of distraction that was always used to prevent voting on gay rights issues. “There are so many OTHER things to worry about.” Who cares why the attention was focused on Russia? Remember, up until recently homosexuality was legal in Russia, they altered their laws. That is a major change, why shouldn’t it get attention?
As for saying that we basically have to involve everybody in our worrying, that is self defeating. Nobody would question why a woman is worried about women’s issues in Afghanistan. It’s only gays that seem to be told we are not allowed to worry about gay rights.