Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Russia: Pressure Escalates on Sochi Corporate Sponsors

Corporate sponsors of the Sochi Winter Olympics should act now to urge Russia to halt the rising tide of discrimination, harassment and threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, 40 of the world’s leading human rights and LGBT groups said yesterday, in an unusual joint open letter.

The letter to all of the leading sponsors of the Sochi Olympics asks them to use their leverage as underwriters of the 2014 Winter Games in a variety of concrete ways. The groups urged sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay “propaganda” law, which violates the Olympic Charter’s principle of non-discrimination, and to ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undertake systemic reforms to monitor and prevent human rights abuses in future host countries.

“Time is running out for the sponsors to take a clear stand in defense of Olympic values,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “These companies are sponsoring an Olympics marred by ugly discrimination and serious rights abuses. They should speak out forcefully for equality and human rights.”

The joint letter is addressed to the 10 TOP Sponsors of the Sochi Games (members of “The Olympic Partner” (TOP) Program)--Atos, Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, General Electric, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Visa. The Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch and several other groups have engaged with the sponsors for nearly a year to urge them to act on abuses.

“Corporate sponsors are failing to stand up for Olympic values, which they proudly claim to be the core of the Olympic brand,” said Andre Banks, executive director and co-founder of All Out. "The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that the Olympic Charter’s Principle 6 includes protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation. While the Russian government may be considering amendments to the anti-gay laws, sponsors still don’t have a good reason to remain silent way while gays and lesbians in Russia suffer.”

The letter was signed by a wide range of international human rights organizations, including All Out, Amnesty International, Athlete Ally, Freedom House, Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, PEN and the Russian LGBT Network. The complete list can be found at the bottom of the letter available at http://www.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/OlympicSponsors_01312014.PDF.

The groups call on the Olympic sponsors to take four specific actions:
Individually and/or collectively, condemn Russia’s anti-LGBT “propaganda” law, which clearly violates the Sixth Fundamental Principle of the Olympic Charter (“Any form of discrimination… is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement”);
Use their Olympics-related marketing and advertising – both domestically and internationally – to promote equality;
Ask the International Olympic Committee to create a body or other mechanism to prevent serious Olympics-related human rights abuses in host countries and to monitor those that do occur; and
Urge the IOC to ensure that future Olympic host countries comply with their commitment to uphold the Olympic Charter, including the principles of non-discrimination and media freedom.

Preparations for the Sochi Games have been marred not only by anti-LGBT discrimination but also other rights abuses, including exploitation of workers on Olympic venues and other sites in Sochi, forced evictions, environmental and health hazards, and intimidation and harassment of journalists and activists seeking to document these abuses.

“Corporations with a track record of support for equality should not shy away from their espoused values by staying silent as Russia wages an attack on its LGBT community,” said Ty Cobb, director of global engagement for the Human Rights Campaign. “In just a few days Russia will be trying to present an international image of a strong, vibrant country. Corporate sponsors must condemn Russia’s anti-gay law and not advance President Putin’s pageantry.”

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

GLAAD spotlights LGBT Russian people and families

GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today unveiled its GLAAD Global Voices: 2014 Winter Olympics Playbook, a resource guide for journalists and spokespeople covering the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The Playbook will be distributed in four languages to thousands of journalists traveling to Sochi and/or covering the 2014 Winter Olympics and provides essential background information, story ideas, and profiles of LGBT Russians to speak about Russia's anti-LGBT laws.
 

The GLAAD Global Voices: 2014 Sochi Olympics Playbook also marks the launch of the GLAAD Global Voices program, which aims to build support for LGBT equality across the globe by sharing culture-changing stories of LGBT people and families in national and international media.

"As all eyes turn to Sochi, it is critical that the media shine light not only on the anti-LGBT Russian policies, but on the real stories of the horrific persecution facing LGBT people and families in Russia. These families cannot be kept invisible any longer," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.


Friday, January 17, 2014

GayTravel.com Safety Alert: Anticipating the Sochi Olympics

GayTravel.com’s CEO Steve Rohrlick was recently invited to a roundtable with the State Department in D.C. to discuss the importance of promoting LGBT travel safety for Americans traveling abroad. This roundtable consisted of a variety of government officials and leaders from the gay travel community to start a dialogue on how the government can facilitate travel safety awareness.

Click here for the full story.

Poll: Do you plan to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics?

A recent poll by Gay Politics Report asked members of the gay community if they planned to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics. Over 50 percent said that they were planning to boycott.
Yes  54.96%
No  35.69%
I'm not sure  9.35%

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Stonewall Fitness: I’m Gay and I Support the Sochi Olympics

By David Smith

If you are pro-choice does that mean you are pro-abortion? Of course not, it just means you are respecting another person enough to make the best decision for themselves, even if you don't agree with that decision.
 

I'm gay and I support the Sochi Olympics although some in the LGBT community have called for boycott.
"WHEN YOU PULL ON THAT JERSEY, YOU REPRESENT YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAMMATES. AND THE NAME ON THE FRONT IS A HELL OF ALOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ONE ON THE BACK! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEAD!" HERB BROOKES- MIRACLE
I have chosen this quote from "Miracle" because it I find it helps to reflect well on our current debate. The athletes that are going to compete in Sochi, from all over the world are representing their countries and their cultures, in essence they are representing you on the world stage. The Olympics in Sochi are especially important for the LGBT community because there are many LGBT athletes who are going to compete in Sochi. Not just from the United States but from all over the world, each country with various laws pertaining to homosexuality.

As a world wide LGBT community, especially now it is important that we don't turn our backs on our brothers and sisters, many whom have trained hard and sacrificed so much, even their coming out for the chance to participate in such an event. It is important that despite an individual country's efforts to restrict LGBT people that we are there to remind everybody in our world and every single individual, no matter how small or big that we are a loving, caring, supportive community open to all. No matter what a person chooses to pursue, whether it's coming out to parents or competing at the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. We must stand together as a community and support each and everybody person who is representing the best of us in their unique aspect.

For an athlete, being LGBT or straight truly doesn't matter, all the athletes are there for the same reason, it's a place where the politics, race, sexual orientation, religion or anything else all disappears because each person represents all the best aspects of their country, many of which are the same regardless of where they come from. During the closing ceremonies, the athletes always enter the stadium not restricted by their own contingents but with the friendships they've been in only two weeks, with their teammates, competitors and even rivals come together because in the end, that's what counts. As athletes return home all those differences return, but for even just a short time it's a place where those differences don't exist.

Our community has long been a place where people who are different can feel welcome, we can't alienate those athletes who represent our community because what it means to feel bullied, ostracized and left behind by your peers is not one anybody should contend with, no matter the circumstances. Events like the Gay Games are so important because they celebrate inclusion, participation and community, thats what the LGBT community has always stood for. No matter the athlete competing for the US in Sochi, I will be cheering them on because they are succeeding at representing the best of us in their own unique aspects. 


For more of my perspective on this issue, please read two of my previous MileHighGayGuy
posts,  "Why I Support the Sochi Olympics" and "2013 Sports Retrospective.

David Smith is the owner of Stonewall Fitness, holds a degree in exercise science from Metropolitan State University of Denver and holds several fitness certifications including ACSM Personal Trainer and Group Fitness.

Visit me: www.stonewallfitness.com
Like me: www.facebook.com/stonewallfit
Follow me: http://stonewallfit.tumblr.com 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Stonewall Fitness: Why I Support the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi


By David Smith

Now that a lot of the hype and emotion of the Sochi Boycott has died down (or been forgotten about) and we are less than 100 days until the opening ceremonies I feel it appropriate to share my viewpoint on the Sochi Boycott. If you are quick to judge yet are not willing to read the article and open your mind to another perspective then please don’t waste your time, or mine.

Given that the Olympic Games are a world wide event and one of the few that can truly unite the world through a common purpose it is no doubt that such attention will always have it’s fair share of controversy, from the direct protests of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Summer Olympics to the indirect protests such as China’s occupation of Tibet during the 2008 Olympics. 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Gay Vegans: Going to the Olympics? Say you're gay!

By Dan Hanley

The disgusting and disturbing stories continue to flow in from Russia. Gay and lesbian people are in a dangerous situation there, not only being targeted by violent thugs on the streets (many times wearing police uniforms) but also by politicians in the legislative system.

With the Olympics coming up next year in Sochi talk has turned to boycotting the Olympics. Sending a message to Mother Russia that your hate and violence towards gay people is unacceptable.

Unlike ours here in the US, but that's another blog post.

I'm sure there are many gay athletes who will travel to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is still trying to figure out how safe these athletes will be if they come out. Russian law is pretty clear that they, and anyone openly supporting them, could be arrested.

Yes, just for publicly saying you are gay or publicly supporting gay people.

My idea is this: Go to the Olympics, whether you are an athlete or a fan or a family member or you just like to watch winter sports. If you are an athlete, blow the Russians out of the water. If you are an athlete or any of the others I listed, say you're gay.

That's right, tell the Russians you're gay. Tell the folks at the airport, tell the hotel employees, tell the taxi driver, tell the restaurant folks, the bankers, the gift peddlers, the security people and any Russian you run into: I am gay.

Wear a t-shirt, paint your nails rainbow colors (Like a Swedish athlete did this past week), carry a little sign, make a huge sign for the whole world to see.

I realize that we gay people ask a lot of our straight allies and those who support equality. This would be a huge ask. HUGE. Imagine what it would look like to the Russian bigots and violent predators towards gay people if tens of thousands of people in Russia for the Olympics simply said they were gay!

We have to speak out against this. Bigotry, hate speech and violence against gay people has to be met by those of us who support equality for all. We cannot let them have the only voice. Furthermore, I feel that I absolutely MUST take action to be a voice for the gay and lesbian people of Russia who live with the threat of violence or arrest every day, and yet still come out publicly and still show up for protests.

I am gay and I support my sisters and brothers in Russia.

This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tom Daly in a Speedo on a talkshow

Olympic cutie-pie Tom Daly made a recent TV appearance wearing nothing but a Speedo and a tie. Enjoy!

Ryan Lochte in a Speedo

Olympian Ryan Lochte isn't my cuppa tea at all but a lot of you seem to like him so, here ya go! Presenting, Ryan Lochte at a recent Las Vegas appearance in an itty-bitty white Speedo. You like?

 Click here for the full gallery of pics.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Nice to See StevieB: The Day After

By StevieB
I will not go into a post-Olympic downer. Nope, not me. Not like every time since my first Olympics I became obsessed with back in 1984. 
 
For weeks after the 1984 games ended I moped around the house with nothing to watch on TV, and nothing to dream about.  I spent the entire remaining summer, after the closing ceremonies, begging my Mom to let me try out for my Junior High’s Track and Field team the next school year. I knew that since we lived so far out in the country there wouldn’t be a way for me to get home when the after school practices were done. And no way I could make it to the meets.  
Every four years I become obsessed with the games and attempt to watch every televised event. I watch the Badminton, Lesbian Kayaking, and the even the hours of team Volleyball. I memorize as many athlete’s names as I can. I try to get their entire back-story, and find them on Twitter.  I quiz myself on the number of points each athlete needs to reach the qualifying rounds. I feel what they feel when they don’t win. I cheer when they do win.
For seventeen days I’m the biggest sports fan there is, then it is over.  To quote Michael Phelps, quoting Dr. Seuss, “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

This post originally appeared on Steven Bennet's website Nice to See StevieB. Republished with permission.

For more of StevieB's take on the 2012 Olympics, check out Olympics or Porn.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Out at the Olympics: 20 gay athletes competing for gold

Check out this list of 20 openly gay athletes competing in the 2012 Olympics. (via Buzzfeed)

Friday, October 15, 2010

GLBT History Month: Matthew Mitcham


Australian diver Matthew Mitcham is one of the few openly gay Olympic athletes. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mitcham won a gold medal after executing the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Pride House - a place for gay Olympic athletes

Pride House at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics - reportedly the first social center for LGBT athletes and their family and friends at the Games - promises an inclusive, welcoming environment for all participants and could start a conversation about the role of gays in sports.

"It has never been done," said organizer Dean Nelson. "It's sort of a taboo subject that everyone is a little afraid to touch. But since we're touching it, everyone is like, 'Yeah, you run with it.' "

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Anti-gay attitudes at the Olympics?

In an August 18 Reuters article, Paul Majendie draws attention to the fact that only 10 of the 10,500 athletes competing in Beijing during this summer's Olympics are openly gay.

The article explained that many athletes fear coming out and facing disapproval from fans and teammates.

Majendie points out that the lack of openly gay athletes creates an environment in which being a gay athlete is perceived to be a deterrent to success. The lack of encouragement for openly gay athletes permeates through the world of athletics, and is rarely given the much needed attention Majendie offers with this article. He details some of the tangible consequences athletes could face if they come out, such as lost endorsement deals and unwanted media attention distracting them from their performances.

Read the full article here.