Dear Readers
Oh the Olympics are under way an as we sit here cheering for Team USA or which every country you might be cheering on, I want you to consider just what having the Olympics in Russia represents.
Russia's draconian laws that ban free speech in regards to homosexuality, it's extreme anti-gay laws which come with anywhere between 15 days to decades long prison sentence only represents the surface of Russia's anti-freedom regime.
The list of Russian laws that allow very loose vague interpretations is long and branching. However, the current laws that go after the LGBTQ community are directly in violation of Russia's Constitution (The Constitution of the Russian Federation) which is closely tied to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"Between 2006 and 2013, ten regions enacted a ban on "propaganda of homosexualism" among minors. The laws of nine of them prescribe punishments of administrative sanctions and/or fines. The laws in some of the regions also forbid so-called "propaganda of bisexualism and transgenderism" to minors. As of May 2013 the regions that had enacted these various laws, and the years in which they had passed the laws, included: Ryazan Oblast (2006), Arkhangelsk Oblast (2011), Saint Petersburg (2012), Kostroma Oblast (2012), Magadan Oblast (2012), Novosibirsk Oblast (2012), Krasnodar Krai (2012), Samara Oblast (2012), Bashkortostan (2012),[note 3] and Kaliningrad Oblast (February 2013).[38]
In June 2012, the Moscow City Court upheld a new law banning gay pride parades in the city for the next hundred years.[39][40]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Russia)
"In June 2013 the national parliament (the State Duma) unanimously adopted, and President Vladimir Putin signed,[41] a nationwide law banning distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" among minors.[33][4][42][43][44] The law does not explicitly mention the word "homosexuality", but instead uses the euphemism "non-traditional sexual relations".[4][45] Under the statute it is effectively illegal to hold any gay pride events, speak in defense of gay rights, or say that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.[37][4][42][43][44]
The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 rubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 rubles.[46] Organizations or businesses will be fined up to 1 million rubles and be forced to cease operations for up to 90 days. Foreigners may be arrested and detained for up to 15 days then deported, as well as fined up to 100,000 rubles. Russian citizens who have used the Internet or media to promote "non-traditional relations" will be fined up to 100,000 rubles.[4]
The statute amended a law that is said to protect children from pornography and other "harmful information".[41] One of the authors of the statute, Yelena Mizulina, who is the chair of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women, and Children and who has been described by some as a moral crusader,[47][48][49] told lawmakers as the bill was being considered, "Traditional sexual relations are relations between a man and a woman.... These relations need special protection".[37] Mizulina argued that a recent poll had shown 88% of the public were in support of the bill.[50]
Commenting on the bill prior to its passage, President Putin said, during a visit to Amsterdam in April 2013, "I want everyone to understand that in Russia there are no infringements on sexual minorities' rights. They're people, just like everyone else, and they enjoy full rights and freedoms".[45] He went on to say that he fully intended to sign the bill because the Russian people demanded it.[37] As he put it, "Can you imagine an organization promoting pedophilia in Russia? I think people in many Russian regions would have started to take up arms.... The same is true for sexual minorities: I can hardly imagine same-sex marriages being allowed in Chechnya. Can you imagine it? It would have resulted in human casualties."[37] Putin also mentioned that he was concerned about Russia's low birth-rate and that same-sex relationships do not produce children.[41]
Critics say that the statute is written so broadly that it is in effect a complete ban on the gay rights movement and any public expression of homosexuality.[21][37][45]
On 21 July 2013, four Dutch tourists were arrested for allegedly discussing gay rights with Russian youths. The four were arrested for allegedly spreading "propaganda of nontraditional relationships among the under-aged" after talking to teens at a camp in the northern city of Murmansk.[51]"
Not only do these laws violate the freedom of religion clause of the Russian Constitution, but it also violates the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Russian Constitution. And because the law make's illegal to even raise a voice against the law, no one has attempted to successfully sue the Russian government over it's violations with these laws.
So what does this have to do with the Olympics?
The Olympics stand for unity of the world. Where everyone joins together to celebrate physical and mental achievement of our top athletes. It has served to represent a world community. However, with the Olympics in Russia with the current laws in place, it is serving to high light Russia's anti-gay laws and to exemplify Russia.
While it's true that the Olympics are bring a light to the lawlessness of Putin and his government, the truth is that the Olympics is also supporting the country by bringing business and people from all around the world to Russia. It's also putting many people at risk, regardless of the guarantees made by Putin and his government.
It's clear that Putin has any intention of reversing these laws or countering the hate speech and hate acts being carried out against gays while the Olympics take the spotlight. As we focus on the events, in the background the LGBTQ community is being beaten, hunted down, shunted, shuttered, and oppressed.
And because the Olympics bylaws prevent the Olympiads from using the Olympics as a political stage, we'll hear little to nothing about the problems during the Olympics. It is the perfect cover to keep Russia's human rights violations out of the international eye for awhile.
No comments:
Post a Comment