#LoveAlwaysWins...except in Russia, where hatred and oppression still carry the day

There are untold billions of advertising dollars at stake for the International Olympic Committee and their corporate partners at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I suppose it’s easy to understand why the IOC might look the other way when anything threatens their cash cow. Russia’s well-publicized anti-gay law is something that most decent, reasonable people would willingly speak out against. Legislating hatred and decriminalizing violence against those who live and love differently is as offensive as it is ignorant of the human rights of Russia’s LGBT community, who live with the very real threat of physical violence hanging over them.

You think it’s tough being LGBT in this country? Try doing it in Russia, where homosexuals are banned from something as basically human as public displays of affection. That Russia passed this law just before they would be hosting the world in Sochi is something that should be causing the IOC serious heartburn. You’d think that the IOC, given Pierre DeCoubertin’s Olympic ideal, would be solidly behind efforts to pressure Russia into rolling back the law.

If you thought that, you’d be wrong. Not only is the IOC remaining silent about a clear affront to humanity and human rights, it’s turning a blind eye to the Russian government as it uses the Olympic logo as a tool in gay-bashing. Even worse, governments whose Olympic committees are sending teams to Sochi have chosen to remain mute in the face of oppression. The games will go on, athletes and governments will pretend all is well, and the money will keep flowing from sponsors and television networks into IOC coffers.

Same as it ever was.

Hey, it’s not like gays and lesbians are real people anyway, right?