The White House on Wednesday played
down any message in sending two openly gay athletes to the Winter
Olympics in Sochi.
The administration on Tuesday announced
that tennis legend Billie Jean King and hockey player Caitlin Cahow
would be part of a 10-person delegation heading to the Sochi Games
and that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden would
skip the sporting event.
Gay rights activists have urged leaders
to boycott the games in protest of the nation's “gay propaganda”
law, which prohibits public demonstrations of support for the LGBT
community.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney
insisted that the delegation's composition wasn't a message aimed at
the Russians.
“Is there a message that you're
trying to send on gay rights, in particular?” NBC's Chuck Todd
asked.
“I think that this delegation
represents the diversity that is the United States,” Carney
answered. “Every member of that delegation is extremely
accomplished, either in government service or in civic activism, or,
most especially, sports.”
“So [the president] is very proud of
the delegation and the diversity it represents, and he looks forward,
as every American does, to the competition and to the effort that
American athletes will demonstrate when they compete in Sochi.”
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(Related: Caitlin
Cahow Won't rule out protesting Russia's anti-gay at Winter
Olympics.)