Gay Rights Activists Fuming over IOC Sochi Decision
WASHINGTON, September 26 (RIA Novosti) – Scathing comments from gay and human rights activists began spewing out across the Internet and social media outlets Thursday, shortly after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Russia’s controversial law banning the promotion of “non-traditional relationships” to minors does not violate the anti-discrimination guarantees in the Olympic charter.
“If this law doesn’t violate the IOC’s charter, then the charter is completely meaningless,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization which advocates on behalf of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, in a statement.
The Kremlin maintains the new law is aimed at protecting children and does not prevent adults from making their own choices, but critics claim the legislation is part of a much wider crackdown on homosexuality in Russia.
Many have expressed concern about what impact the law might have on LGBT athletes and spectators at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
more...
http://en.rian.ru/world/20130926/183755148/Gay-Rights-Activists-Fuming-over-IOC-Sochi-Decision.html