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From Outsports:
The following is part of the text of a letter sent to the United States Secretary of State John Kerry by 83 members of the United States Congress:
...According to the Organizing Committee of XXII Olympic Games and
Paralympic Games in Sochi, Sochi will be host to over 40,000 athletes,
volunteers, and members of the press for the duration of the Games. An
additional 75,000 spectators are expected to visit Sochi daily during
that time. With the Olympics only seven months away, we are deeply
concerned about the impact of the new anti-LGBT law on LGBT Russians,
the Olympic community and supporters of LGBT equality.
We are particularly troubled because while the newly signed law is the most recent and most extreme codification of Russia’s maltreatment of its LGBT citizens, it is also part of larger trend of anti-LGBT actions in Russia. In the last month, the Russian government also enacted a law banning foreign same-sex couples and single people from nations that have marriage equality from adopting Russian children. Hate crimes and violent attacks against the LGBT community have been reported, including the murders of two gay men earlier this year. In 2012, Moscow instituted a hundred-year ban on LGBT pride parades, a ban that was deemed illegal by the European Court of Human Rights, but which nevertheless resulted in the arrest and detention of seventeen LGBT activists for displaying rainbow flags. Russia’s record of anti-LGBT legislation and persecution pose serious concerns for the safety of LGBT Sochi Olympic participants and spectators.
We are particularly troubled because while the newly signed law is the most recent and most extreme codification of Russia’s maltreatment of its LGBT citizens, it is also part of larger trend of anti-LGBT actions in Russia. In the last month, the Russian government also enacted a law banning foreign same-sex couples and single people from nations that have marriage equality from adopting Russian children. Hate crimes and violent attacks against the LGBT community have been reported, including the murders of two gay men earlier this year. In 2012, Moscow instituted a hundred-year ban on LGBT pride parades, a ban that was deemed illegal by the European Court of Human Rights, but which nevertheless resulted in the arrest and detention of seventeen LGBT activists for displaying rainbow flags. Russia’s record of anti-LGBT legislation and persecution pose serious concerns for the safety of LGBT Sochi Olympic participants and spectators.
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We applaud the State Department’s commitment to ensuring that U.S.
diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of
LGBT persons abroad, and the actions your agency has already taken to
communicate concerns about the overall direction on LGBT rights in
Russia directly to the Russian government. In light of the importance of
U.S. leadership on LGBT issues, and the quickly-approaching Sochi
Games, we urge the State Department to determine the appropriate course
of action to assure the safety and well being of LGBT and LGBT—
supporting individuals involved in or attending the 2014 Sochi Olympics
and Paralympics. We look forward to hearing from you regarding what
efforts have been undertaken, especially efforts undertaken in
coordination with other foreign governments, and are committed to
working together with you on this issue.
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