U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon will propose legislation to protect LGBT athletes and spectators at the 2014 winter olympics in Sochi, given the severely anti-gay laws in Russia, POLITICO reports.
According to Merkley's office, he will finish the bill this month and introduce it when Congress resumes in Septemeber. The legislation will ask Russia to guarantee that those participating in and watching the games with not undergo anti-LGBT discrimination.
The anti-LGBT law in Russia, approved by President Vladimir Putin this June, was created to end "propoganda of non-traditional sexual relations around minors." Punishments include up to 15 days in jail and fines for both Russians and foreigners.
Although the International Olympic Committee and some Russian leaders have claimed the law should not raise concern during the Olympics, other leaders like Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko outraged Merkely when he was quoted saying "No one is forbidding an athlete with non-traditional sexual orientation from coming to Sochi, but if he goes onto the street and starts propagandizing it, then of course he will be held accountable."
In response to Mutko's claim, Merkely took to his twitter account and responded:
"Outrageous. Olympic discrimination against LGBT athletes and spectators is 100% unacceptable," he asserted yesterday.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has been active in openly discussing the issue and has remained skeptical. In response to Mutko's statement on Thursday, the HRC's vice president of communications Fred Sainz told BuzzFeed:
"Within the past twenty-four hours, two high level officials have gone out of their way to contradict the IOC in no uncertain terms," Sainz said. "The opinion of the Russian government is now perfectly clear: if you're gay and you come to Russia for the Olympics, you will be in harm's way."
This new controversy over Russia's anti-LGBT laws comes just one day after the White House announced it's disappointment with Russia granting Edward Snowden temporary asylum. White House Spokesman Jay Carney suggested in his speech that President Barack Obama may possibly boycott a meeting with Putin in September as a result.
