I don't know if any of you have been following the controversy about the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia much or not. In short, Russia recently passed an anti-gay propaganda law, which is being broadly interpreted to also include things such as public displays of affection, any sort of Pride demonstrations, and even just expressing public support of gay rights. There have also been a rash of hate crimes along with the passing of this law (not that it seems the government is doing much to stop them). There have been threats that there will be no leniency in this new law during the Olympics, and the Olympic Committee has continued to stand with Russia, insisting there will be no problems.
The NY Times posted an article today about a line of merchandise being sold by American Apparel that seeks to use the Olympic Committee's own non-discrimination policy as a sort of subtle protest against Russia's threats. There are several athletes working in support of this merchandise/protest campaign. I'm curious to know what you all think of it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/business/media/merchandise-uses-olympics-principles-against-russian-anti-gay-laws.html
No comments:
Post a Comment