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.
GLAAD is working alongside international LGBT organizations and athletes to secure media coverage and spark a global dialogue about the stories of LGBT Russians. For several months, GLAAD has also been working with LGBT Russians, as well as U.S.-based Russian LGBT advocacy organization RUSA LGBT, to ensure that the stories of LGBT Russians are prominently featured across mainstream media outlets. GLAAD will continue to garner media coverage of LGBT Russians, including those who have lost their jobs for being LGBT, those who have had to flee Russia to escape persecution, and those who continue to advocate for LGBT people within Russia.
Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the horrific conditions facing LGBT people in Russia and wrongfully equated LGBT people with pedophiles, saying that LGBT visitors, including tennis legend Billie Jean King of the U.S. Olympic delegation, have nothing to fear at the Olympics, as long as they "leave kids alone." This week during an interview with BBC, Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov of Sochi said of gay people: "We do not have them in our city."
