Russia - Gay Rights - Sochi Olympics Megathread

[Rawrckia]

If you want to wear rainbow athlete/coach uniforms as protest, feel free. IIRC there's no rules regarding colors on uniforms as long as all the athletes on the team wear it. Or you don't have to alter the design at all and just iron a small rainbow flag onto the uniforms. It would be a quiet protest that would tell Russia we respect that they are self-governing but our opinions differ on this issue.

If you want to hold a gay parade in the midst of the Olympics, complete with public nudity, please leave this planet immediately.

[Rocopurr]

If you want to wear rainbow athlete/coach uniforms as protest, feel free. IIRC there's no rules regarding colors on uniforms as long as all the athletes on the team wear it. Or you don't have to alter the design at all and just iron a small rainbow flag onto the uniforms. It would be a quiet protest that would tell Russia we respect that they are self-governing but our opinions differ on this issue.

If you want to hold a gay parade in the midst of the Olympics, complete with public nudity, please leave this planet immediately.

Has anyone wanted to do the latter...?

[Liriena]

If you want to hold a gay parade in the midst of the Olympics, complete with public nudity, please leave this planet immediately.

As much as I like the sight of hundreds of sexy young men naked on the streets...who the heck has proposed such a thing?

[Avenio]

If you want to hold a gay parade in the midst of the Olympics, complete with public nudity, please leave this planet immediately.

The Olympics was originally created as a gay sex and nudity festival. It's not the LGTB community's fault that we want to take it back to its fabulous ancient Greek roots.

[Rawrckia]

If you want to hold a gay parade in the midst of the Olympics, complete with public nudity, please leave this planet immediately.

The Olympics was originally created as a gay sex and nudity festival.

This also included pederasty...

[Liriena]

The Olympics was originally created as a gay sex and nudity festival.

This also included pederasty...

Nobody's perfect.

[Avenio]

The Olympics was originally created as a gay sex and nudity festival.

This also included pederasty...

And the modern one includes doped-up 15-year-old Chinese athletes destined for stunted lifespans all for the glory of the Chinese state. Every event has its flaws.

[Soviet Russia Republic]

Unfortunately, I don't see it changing either way for a while. Boycotting them would get the public's attention, but would probably cause backlash against the gay minority. The only change I see coming is if protests occur, the police react brutally, and the world watches.

Doesn't seem to matter for Saudi Arabia when it's police routinely act brutally and even kill people in the dozens, heck you hardly ever see a topic on NSG compared to Russia even. Change needs to come from forces within, not outside. Even if you bomb a country repeatably in a claim to help bring democracy, it often doesn't tend to stick or end well.

[Urmanian]

Unfortunately, I don't see it changing either way for a while. Boycotting them would get the public's attention, but would probably cause backlash against the gay minority. The only change I see coming is if protests occur, the police react brutally, and the world watches.

Doesn't seem to matter for Saudi Arabia when it's police routinely act brutally and even kill people in the dozens, heck you hardly ever see a topic on NSG compared to Russia even. Change needs to come from forces within, not outside. Even if you bomb a country repeatably in a claim to help bring democracy, it often doesn't tend to stick or end well.

saudi arabia isn't hosting olympics

[Regnum Dominae]

Unfortunately, I don't see it changing either way for a while. Boycotting them would get the public's attention, but would probably cause backlash against the gay minority. The only change I see coming is if protests occur, the police react brutally, and the world watches.

Doesn't seem to matter for Saudi Arabia when it's police routinely act brutally and even kill people in the dozens, heck you hardly ever see a topic on NSG compared to Russia even. Change needs to come from forces within, not outside. Even if you bomb a country repeatably in a claim to help bring democracy, it often doesn't tend to stick or end well.

Saudi Arabia isn't hosting the Olympics.

[Belligerent Alcoholics]

Doesn't seem to matter for Saudi Arabia when it's police routinely act brutally and even kill people in the dozens, heck you hardly ever see a topic on NSG compared to Russia even. Change needs to come from forces within, not outside. Even if you bomb a country repeatably in a claim to help bring democracy, it often doesn't tend to stick or end well.

Saudi Arabia isn't hosting the Olympics.

That, and it's pretty much expected for Saudi Arabia to be the kind of douchey Russia is being right now, whereas this is somewhat out of the blue for most of the world that isn't right next door to Russia.

[Soviet Russia Republic]

Doesn't seem to matter for Saudi Arabia when it's police routinely act brutally and even kill people in the dozens, heck you hardly ever see a topic on NSG compared to Russia even. Change needs to come from forces within, not outside. Even if you bomb a country repeatably in a claim to help bring democracy, it often doesn't tend to stick or end well.

Saudi Arabia isn't hosting the Olympics.

Really!? Oh bummer, I gotta cancel my 2014 plane ticket there now.
I don't know what your suggesting by this statement. Somehow if you hold the Olympics you are magically more deserving of attention on issues? Guess that explains the die of attention after China's games. Or are you suggesting police in countries, or at least Russia, would be stupid enough to act out in a brutal manor during an internationally watched games being hosted?

[Vitaphone Racing]

This seems to be the same boring style of #activism where groups of bored teenagers set lofty goals which are more or less entirely unachievable or just do pointless shit to ruffle feathers. Sorry to offend anyone, but that's what this looks like.

Take the Olympics off Russia? Not going to happen. It's August of 2013. The Olympics are less than six months away. Who else is going to hold them? Who is prepared to hold them? Are we supposed to tell thousands of athletes who so desperately want to compete in Russia that they're going to have to wait another four years, just to prove a point?

Make the Olympics "fabulous!"? What's that going to do? Apart from giving the Russian police a workout? It's plain as day that Russia gives no fucks what the world thinks about it's latest policies and seems keener than ever to push the boundaries in the other direction.

Declare war? Lolwut?

Economic sanctions? For one, why would any country in the world damage their own economy by seriously jeopardizing their own oil supply? For two, what would this actually accomplish in Russia despite a major fucking over of the middle and lower class Russians who probably go through enough already? What's making them hate us even more going to do?

[Shofercia]

It's hilarious really. This law was passed for a reason. It's quite amazing that very few Gay Rights activists even bothered to look for the reason. How the fuck are you planning to change Russia, if you don't even know why the law was passed? At least I've tried looking, I've tried guessing; how many have done that? Honestly, how many?

Yes, the law sucks. It blows. It's horrible. It's atrocious. It shouldn't have been passed. I agree. Now, does anyone have a detailed plan to fight it? Is anyone actually willing to commit? For the long haul?

Really, you are? What's the name of Russia's most intelligent Gay Activist? If you even think Navalny, bitchslap yourself. What did the above activist do that was very cool? Do you guys know anything about this, or are we writing indignant letters, and Frying words together?

Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm not trying to get you to give up. But if you are actually planning to change Russia, and not merely cause melodrama, did you do your own damn research?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08 ... f=uk&ir=UK

Good job! Way to disillusion someone who was working his ass off! A nice summary:

This is a classic case of liberal in-fighting which is not unique to Russia. Across the globe liberal commentators are all too keen to turn on one another with a savagery not even shown to their opponents. Anyone who is not seen as liberal enough/too liberal/the wrong kind of liberal can expect no quarter from his own side of the political spectrum. In these circumstances it is unsurprising that despite the general left-lean of populations compared to government that the centre-right fairs so well in politics. Liberals are impressively poor at picking their fights correctly.

So, if you are actually interested, answer these questions to the best of your ability:

1. Why this law? Why now?
2. Why do most Russians dislike LGBT?
3. Who can LGBTers ally with in Russia, for the long term?
4. What can be done to help RLGBT?
5. What act made Alexeyev famous?

[Chrisw]

I believe victories of gay athletes is what the Olympics need, because their prevalence will serve the interests of LGBT community more than any scandal or even boycott of the games. Everything I hear about LGBT community and Olympics in Russia makes me think that someone is really scared to participate because they not quite certain to win and this is why they try to spoil the games facing the competition with more skilled athletes. And I'm absolutely sure that mixing Olympics with politics, gay rights or anything else is ridiculous because the games were always above that kind of stuff. I guess in Russia no one really cares about sexual orientation, they simply want to protect children from propaganda of same-sex relations. That's the right thing I support, and all critics of Russian anti-gay law they simply have no idea of what they are talking about. And, people, leave the Olympics and Russians in peace, let the athletes compete. We have other more vital things to do like fighting cancer or feed those who starve. That's more important, don't you think so?

[Sommorragh]

This seems to be the same boring style of #activism where groups of bored teenagers set lofty goals which are more or less entirely unachievable or just do pointless shit to ruffle feathers. Sorry to offend anyone, but that's what this looks like.

Take the Olympics off Russia? Not going to happen. It's August of 2013. The Olympics are less than six months away. Who else is going to hold them? Who is prepared to hold them? Are we supposed to tell thousands of athletes who so desperately want to compete in Russia that they're going to have to wait another four years, just to prove a point?

Make the Olympics "fabulous!"? What's that going to do? Apart from giving the Russian police a workout? It's plain as day that Russia gives no fucks what the world thinks about it's latest policies and seems keener than ever to push the boundaries in the other direction.

Declare war? Lolwut?

Economic sanctions? For one, why would any country in the world damage their own economy by seriously jeopardizing their own oil supply? For two, what would this actually accomplish in Russia despite a major fucking over of the middle and lower class Russians who probably go through enough already? What's making them hate us even more going to do?

Tis what I said. A healthy dose of realism is severely needed in this thread.

[West Faristan2]

This seems to be the same boring style of #activism where groups of bored teenagers set lofty goals which are more or less entirely unachievable or just do pointless shit to ruffle feathers. Sorry to offend anyone, but that's what this looks like.

Take the Olympics off Russia? Not going to happen. It's August of 2013. The Olympics are less than six months away. Who else is going to hold them? Who is prepared to hold them? Are we supposed to tell thousands of athletes who so desperately want to compete in Russia that they're going to have to wait another four years, just to prove a point?

Make the Olympics "fabulous!"? What's that going to do? Apart from giving the Russian police a workout? It's plain as day that Russia gives no fucks what the world thinks about it's latest policies and seems keener than ever to push the boundaries in the other direction.

Declare war? Lolwut?

Economic sanctions? For one, why would any country in the world damage their own economy by seriously jeopardizing their own oil supply? For two, what would this actually accomplish in Russia despite a major fucking over of the middle and lower class Russians who probably go through enough already? What's making them hate us even more going to do?

Tis what I said. A healthy dose of realism is severely needed in this thread.

Don't flamebait.

[Sommorragh]

Tis what I said. A healthy dose of realism is severely needed in this thread.

Don't flamebait.

Sorry, I don't mean to do it on purpose.

[West Faristan2]

Don't flamebait.

Sorry, I don't mean to do it on purpose.

Just try to be careful in future with your wording. The Mods here are really unforgiving.

[Sommorragh]

Sorry, I don't mean to do it on purpose.

Just try to be careful in future with your wording. The Mods here are really unforgiving.

Been here long enough to know that.

[Hetalian Indie Rio de Janeiro]

Your link shows that bears are just gays who pretend to be masculine. Try again.

Until that the most gays are behaving like feminime freaks.

Yeah the gay pride community (ie san fran liberals) seems to be the biggest obstacle to their own acceptance in the intransigent part of society. I mean if they behaved a bit more normally like mainstream heteros I think even hardcore conservatives would be a little more open or at least tolerant of them.

You do realized that men who do sex with men are 14% of the United States population and 21% of the Brazilian, right?

[Rocopurr]

Yeah the gay pride community (ie san fran liberals) seems to be the biggest obstacle to their own acceptance in the intransigent part of society. I mean if they behaved a bit more normally like mainstream heteros I think even hardcore conservatives would be a little more open or at least tolerant of them. :)

You do realized that men who do sex with men are 14% of the United States population and 21% of the Brazilian, right?

Source? I didn't know the percentages were that high...

[Hetalian Indie Rio de Janeiro]

You do realized that men who do sex with men are 14% of the United States population and 21% of the Brazilian, right?

Source? I didn't know the percentages were that high...

USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_demo ... cs_by_year

Brazilian gay/bi guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_people_in_Brazil

The most gay-friendly city and with a relatively homoerotic culture among even heteronormative men for a place in the Western world: "The city of Rio de Janeiro has the highest percentage of non-heterosexual males, with 19.3% of it population being gay or bisexual men."

Brazilian [polysexual] straight guys who like genderqueer males are a widely documented phenomenon and even though there are no statistics, what we see out there is that they are about as numerous as gay guys themselves.

[Liriena]

It's hilarious really. This law was passed for a reason. It's quite amazing that very few Gay Rights activists even bothered to look for the reason. How the fuck are you planning to change Russia, if you don't even know why the law was passed? At least I've tried looking, I've tried guessing; how many have done that? Honestly, how many?

Yes, the law sucks. It blows. It's horrible. It's atrocious. It shouldn't have been passed. I agree. Now, does anyone have a detailed plan to fight it? Is anyone actually willing to commit? For the long haul?

Really, you are? What's the name of Russia's most intelligent Gay Activist? If you even think Navalny, bitchslap yourself. What did the above activist do that was very cool? Do you guys know anything about this, or are we writing indignant letters, and Frying words together?

Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm not trying to get you to give up. But if you are actually planning to change Russia, and not merely cause melodrama, did you do your own damn research?

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08 ... f=uk&ir=UK

Good job! Way to disillusion someone who was working his ass off! A nice summary:

This is a classic case of liberal in-fighting which is not unique to Russia. Across the globe liberal commentators are all too keen to turn on one another with a savagery not even shown to their opponents. Anyone who is not seen as liberal enough/too liberal/the wrong kind of liberal can expect no quarter from his own side of the political spectrum. In these circumstances it is unsurprising that despite the general left-lean of populations compared to government that the centre-right fairs so well in politics. Liberals are impressively poor at picking their fights correctly.

So, if you are actually interested, answer these questions to the best of your ability:

1. Why this law? Why now?
2. Why do most Russians dislike LGBT?
3. Who can LGBTers ally with in Russia, for the long term?
4. What can be done to help RLGBT?
5. What act made Alexeyev famous?

Shofercia, I like you and I understand your motivations, but I'm growing tired of your apologism.

Tis what I said. A healthy dose of realism is severely needed in this thread.

Don't flamebait.

Seriously, this ^

[Releign]

http://cheezburger.com/7770659584