US Olympic Committee Adds LGBT Rights to its ByLaws

[bcohen7719]

fyi

 

http://mashable.com/2013/10/12/u-s-olympic-committee-lgbt/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner

[bigvalboy]

fyi

 

http://mashable.com/2013/10/12/u-s-olympic-committee-lgbt/?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner

 

Thanks BC. This of course put the ball in the Russians court. It will be very interesting to see how they respond.

[seeker630]

Thanks BC. This of course put the ball in the Russians court. It will be very interesting to see how they respond.

 

I don't think they have to 'play'. It's only the U.S. Olympic Committee - does that impact anyone else?

 

(I'm not saying it's insignificant, but the impact seems pretty limited to me.)

[bigvalboy]

I don't think they have to 'play'. It's only the U.S. Olympic Committee - does that impact anyone else?

 

(I'm not saying it's insignificant, but the impact seems pretty limited to me.)

 

I'm not so sure. I personally think that it is significant. For starters the U.S.OC has formally added anti discriminatory language to the bylaws. That's a first, and that outright sends a clear message that they are opposed to Russian laws that discriminate against the LBGT community. In that respect they took a stand, which they really had not previously done. They went on to say, as I understood the article, that while demonstrations against Russian anti gay laws would not be tolerated, they are allowing athletes to express their feelings however they see fit.

 

Without question this is a delicate dance of diplomacy, but the United States without question, has a commanding presence at the Olympics, and I think that it was important them to publicly voice support for the LGBT community. Changing bylaws is a good first step, and lets athletes know that they are being supported.

 

Baby steps....I have never been a fan of moving the Olympics out of Sochi. I think the world needs to see not only the proud gay and lesbian athletes perform, but they also need to see that other athletes from all over the world support them also.

 

In the end, we won't know the impact of any of this until the games are over, in fact it may takes years before people look back at Sochi and realize what an impact performing on Russian soil had. For me it is not only the Russian Government, but Russian society as a whole is very anti gay. They need to see that the world is changing.

[Steven_Draker]

Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva about anti-gay propaganda law:

 

"If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people," Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion, said in English. "We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys."

 

"Everything must be fine. It comes from history. We never had any problems, these problems in Russia, and we don't want to have any in the future."

 

http://nickshell1983.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/self-deprecation1.jpg