Citing passage of recently approved laws which discriminate
against LGBT people, actor-comedian-author Stephen Fry has urged the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to stage the Winter
Olympics at Sochi.
“An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi
is simply essential,” Fry
wrote in an open letter. “Stage them elsewhere in Utah,
Lilyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to
have the approval of the civilized world.”
The laws, signed in recent weeks by Russian President Vladimir
Putin, prohibit gay and lesbian couples from adopting Russian-born
children and the public promotion of gay rights where minors might be
present, effectively banning Gay Pride marches and similar
demonstrations. Russian officials have said that its “gay
propaganda” law would be in effect at Sochi and that athletes or
guests who violate the law will be detained.
Putin “is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did
Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it.”
“I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her
family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and it is
constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian
'correctively' raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi
thugs while Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and
I for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself,” he added.
(Related: Obama
has “no patience” for anti-gay laws in Russia.)