Why We Participated in the 1936 Nazi Games: Lessons for Sochi
Russia’s laws are not the same as the Nazi Nuremburg laws. The former outlaw the visibility of homosexuality in literature and public life, the latter deprived Jewish-Germans of citizenship and legal protection. But they are similar in the way that they socially exclude a long-suffering minority. You don’t need to be a historian to be suspicious of broad comparisons with the Nazis, used conveniently to counter your opponents, but in this case I think careful parallels are quite justified. We should all be wary of where hate legislation might lead.
Ultimately, this issue should be faced in the spirit of Olympism. You need only to look at the Olympic Charter to see that one of its fundamental principles is: "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
At present, we are poised to send athletes into an atmosphere of discrimination. It’s not a mistake we should make twice.
http://needleberlin.com/2013/08/08/why-we-participated-in-the-1936-games-lessons-for-sochi/