 |
| Sochi Olympics 2014 stamp |
Gay rights groups protested humanitarian issues were being overlooked in the embrace of the Sochi Olympic games. They see the media hype over the athletes, the accommodations and the terrorist threat taking precedence over concerns about the treatment of gays in Russia, something that was known before the games and seldom examined by the media during the course of the preparation for the games.
The announcement by the mainstream press at the Olympics and other sports events highlights worries that terrorists may use toothpaste as bombs to bring down planes. Journalists announced their accommodations as poor, with leaking toilets, beds without proper bedding and open and broken windows in the face of winter's cold temperatures. All of that is important news, but the lack of consistent reporting in favor of long interviews with athletes and their families, as are the program highlights of the Today Show, overlooks the importance of humanitarian values neglected in favor of "entertainment" news.
Russia announced several times, both by government officials including Putin and the official press, that the law of Russia bars homosexual behavior. Openly gay Olympic medal recipient and diving champion, Greg Lougani, told the Huffington Post that he believes it was a mistake for the world to accept Russia as a host for the Olympic games because of Russia's anti-gay legislation.
According to gay rights proponents and their supporters, Russia's law that bans pro-gay "propaganda" that could be accessible to minors is so restrictive that any public expression of support for gay rights is often met with a severe response.
In the meantime, gay rights groups are taking to the streets around the world to show their concern about the neglect of humanitarian ideals in relationship to treatment of gays. They have been comparing the celebration of the games in Sochi as reminiscent of the atmosphere created by Adolph Hitler's condemnation of minorities prior to the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 and have been calling for boycotts of corporate sponsors.
Athletics remains the sport where people can show their physical prowess. But politics remains one of the principal issues when the games are high profile. It is then that human rights ideals may be overlooked in the din of nationalistic noises, with the media on the sidelines as spectators
