elisabeth
Olympics - sending people to Russia
Posted on: 07/29/2013 00:40
There has been a lot of discussion in the news about the new law passed in Russia which makes it against the law to basically promote equality for GLBT people. On the Canadian travel advisory web site the Canadian Government makes it clear that it is not against the law in Russian to be "homosexual" however; you can't in any way promote it. This is a bit of a bind when coming from a country where not only is being GLBT ok but we are able to get legally married, adopt, participate in surrogacy agreements to have children and in fact have the right not to be discriminated against under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
So the IOC, seems to have a bit of a problem as they have given the winter games to this country and the rest of the world (or at least the rest of the world who are sending athletes) will be arriving very soon in Russia in order to participate in the Olympics. To date as far as I have read the IOC is saying that they will not change the venue. They say that they have been in discussions with Russia officials and they have received assurances "from the highest level" that none of "our" athletes or support staff will be prosecuted under this law. Presumably that means that our GLB athletes can go and talk about their lives and their partners without being harassed and jailed. But this does not stop the atrocities that are taking place in Russia at this time.
I cannot help that history is repeating itself. I remember as a child and then in University sitting in shame as I listened to teachers and then professors explain how the populous of the time allowed the Olympics to go on when Hitler hosted the games. We were told that the reason that this happened was that no one really knew at that point what was happening to the Jews. But we were assured that had we known the world would have stood up, side by side with our Jewish brothers and sisters and certainly the games would not have gone on. Generally at that point the teacher says something like - we as Canadians- as a nation are so sorry that we did not do the right thing at that time. Well this time we do know what Russia is doing. We need to stand up and make a statement.
The Chef .... of the Canadian team for 2012 is Gay and he is arguing that the games must go on because the athletes have been training hard and they should not be the ones who are sacrificed at the table of politics. I do understand what he is saying. But can we compromise. How about what about delaying the games one year, selecting a new country, one that reflects the morals that are supposed to reflect what the games are supposedly stand for, to host the games. Certainly, there are many winter nations that already have geography and a lot of the infrastructure in place to host the games. The point is that it would be better to have games that are less flashy than to go down in history as pandering to another regime, like the Nazis that are killing their own people because it would be too expensive or inconvenient to change a venue at this point. The argument that the world should gather in a nation while they were exterminating the Jews in massive ovens because it would be financially difficult for the commerical sponsors or causes the athletes inconvenience is an obsense argument. It is just as obsense when used against GLBT peoples and their families and friends. But perhaps you say that GLBT people are not being exterminated like the Jews. Except the news coming out of Russia is that the new law is being used as an excuse for squads to round up young Gay men who are then tortured, sexually abused and then video outed, arrested and jailed. I expect that those young men will not live long.
The other problem is how can the Canadian government, send their athletes to Russia. I have read the travel advisory on the Canadian web site to Russia. It is clear that just telling Russian people that in Canada is it normal for same sex couples to be married and have children (biological and adopted) would be violating the law. It seems to me that if we are going to send our team this year then we will be forced to muzzle them and tell them that they cannot talk about GLBT issues (ie tell them to pretend that GLBT people do not exist) , or tell them go ahead talk all they want because our government has negotiated an exemption for you alone for these games. The second suggestion is hypocrisy and if in fact western athletes, support staff and journalists are allowed to talk freely within the Olympic village the concern I have is it is likely to create a feeling of comfort within the Russian GLTB community. This feeling of comfort will then foster a belief in Russia that in fact it is safe to be a GLTB person or support a GLTB person only to find once the world departs the draconian laws are still in effect.
So what do we do? The only thing that we can do is control our own actions. Do not buy Russian goods, do not send our athletes to this country. Perhaps if all of the western nations refuse to send their athletes, maybe Russia would realize that they have finally stepped over a line and back down? But even if Russia does not change it's ways, we will know that we have not been complicit in this wrong - we finally will have done the right thing - and when we look back through the dusty pages of history this time as a nation we will not have to say "We are sorry".
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Comments
chansen
Posted on: 01/14/2014 16:31
How can we not? It's seared into our brains. The thread was longer than the trip.
crazyheart
Posted on: 01/21/2014 13:59
I think Canada should not go to the Olympics and familes should stay home as well. It is too dangerous.
chemgal
Posted on: 01/21/2014 14:54
CH, is this because of how Russia is treating LGBT people, or for other reasons?
crazyheart
Posted on: 01/21/2014 17:04
That as well as the terrorist threats tha keep coming and I suppose LGBT will be targetted.
Kimmio
Posted on: 01/22/2014 04:48
It's not looking good. Dangerous and unpleasant. I think foreign attendance is going to be way down. It's a volitile place and I think a lot of people will opt not to go. I wouldn't want to be there. Also, it is touted as a resort town. However, I read that Sochi residents are living in areas in squalor with no running water, but the new Olympic development of the town looks beautiful. A sandy beach there was covered in concrete to build a port that will not be used afterall. In Vancouver- we had, not far from Olympic sites, the downtown east-side. Unfortunately, it was already in bad shape with residents in dire poverty long before we decided to host the Olympics- the Olympics were supposed to bring in economic development and make life better for everbody. I don't know if that happened- there's still poverty and unemployment-but it was costly- and a lot of people were upset that a whole bunch of money was being spent on a brief event while we had local problems to work on. I imagine it's similar in poorer parts of London, and what some Sochi residents are feeling now. But there is running water in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, and I don't believe anyone was just arbitrarily evicted (as is the case for some Sochi residents), to build the sites.
naman
Posted on: 01/22/2014 07:31
This thread is making me very thoughtful about games people play and now I am wondering where Jae will find a new playing field when WonderCafe closes in a few months.
revjohn
Posted on: 01/22/2014 08:26
Hi Kimmio,
It's not looking good. Dangerous and unpleasant. I think foreign attendance is going to be way down.
Well, that is what the terrorists want people to think isn't it? They want people to fear them no matter if there is good reason to fear them or not. What plays into their favour is our trust in Russia's ability.
Which Olympic games come without threat of terror anymore? We simply assess the threat and consider the ability of the host nation to meet and overwhelm that threat. I'm sure most people at last year's Boston Marathon thought that security was more than equal to the task of stopping something awful from happening.
It's a volitile place and I think a lot of people will opt not to go. I wouldn't want to be there.
Not at all like Atlanta in 1996. Still one pipe bomb and one death nearly 20 years ago and who remembers?
Which is not me saying Sochi will be safer. It is me saying that any gathering of crowds is a terrorist's wet dream. Those with genuine intent and an ability to carry out such a plan probably don't tell you they intend to before hand.
That is a plot device relegated to television, movie and comic book villains. The real villains do the deed and crow about it later.
Also, it is touted as a resort town. However, I read that Sochi residents are living in areas in squalor
Consider Caribbean resorts. They are tourist destinations. What do the residents near those places live like?
Resort towns are resort towns not because everyone is well to do but rather because they have something like a view or a climate or a beach that the well to do want to have.
I don't believe anyone was just arbitrarily evicted (as is the case for some Sochi residents), to build the sites.
I don't remember hearing that either. That said I remember an earlier event (I think it was APEC) where police routinely cleaned the downtown of undesireables. Rounding them up and driving them to the burbs and telling them to stay away for a few days.
I remember black hawk helicopters flying by our seminary, crowd control fences using our Church as part of the security perimeter (you can come in this door but don't even think about leaving through that one) and snipers on the roof of Gage Towers at UBC.
I remember our nanny taking our youngest daughter out for a stroll and then frighteningly finding herself caught between a swarm of protesting university students and police in riot gear. She was not accosted by either faction still, I wouldn't have wanted to be in a similar place with or without an infant.
Talk to Toronto residents about their last G-20 experience.
Large PR events (which is what these things are) provide a platform for everyone wanting a stage and a spotlight. To control who gets on stage and into the spotlight you need an enormous security presence and sometimes that many amped officers in riot gear becomes almost an equal threat to the percieved terrorist activity they are assembled to protect against.
Somebody in government needs to re-think how they hold those things. Put public safety before the photo-op. Of course if the next G-20 was nothing more than a skype session the conspiracy nuts would blossom.
Grace and peace to you.
John
Kimmio
Posted on: 01/22/2014 10:00
I remember a big deal being made during APEC but I didn't pay much attention to it back then. I just remember some roads being blocked for Clinton's motorcade, and the pepper sprayed protesters in the news. But I suppose you're right. Before the Vancouver Olympics, the security presence was being beefed up, and it was an eerie feeling. To me anyway. Seeing a bunch of uniformed officers everywhere didn't make me feel at ease because I knew they were there because a greater potential danger existed. A noticeably increased number of cops at the skytrain stations- not including the many plain clothes officers around- you couldn't tell who they were but we were told they were around- you could sense the security presence and suddenly the city felt different. And hear the helicopters overhead. And the media played up people's fears a little. And the US, I remember, issued a travel warning to American visitors. I guess that's par for the course for Olympics? It was a strange change in thinking about where I live while living here, all happening amidst growing happy excitement. Once underway, it was a lot of fun, a lot of happy pleasant people from all over the world walking down the car-free streets waving their flags and high-fiving strangers. Residents forgot momentarily, despite prior griping, that they ever might have voted 'no' to it, and joined in the fun. You couldn't go downtown and avoid it. That part was pretty awesome. Except there was a protest incident on the first or second day- some vandalism, and the police came out in full riot gear- very near where I live. I saw it live on the news and wondered when it would be safe to leave the house. It was actually handled quite well. Noone got hurt. I don't remember if there were arrests. Still, it was disconcerting.
However, Vancouver and Sochi are very different places. Canada in general is still less volatile than Russia. They've been having massive polical protests and a lot more militant violence. We have our problems but we're generally well liked around the world. Considering the number of different ethnicities, religions and social political views we have here- Canada is very safe and respectful and we like it that way. I don't know if it's the same there.
Kimmio
Posted on: 01/22/2014 10:03
That said... The hockey riots were a black mark after the Olympics. More actual dangerous activity happened (which was fueled by drunken stupidity), that wasn't anticipated- not after the Olympics went so well.
kaythecurler
Posted on: 01/22/2014 10:02
This morning I am reminded that I am quite an old grump.
Olympics? Bah humbug - they are designed to provide 'entertainment and commercial opportunities'. As an activity they are overly poiliticised and you can't even count on each country sending their best athletes.
Terroists - a way to waste money trying to control the uncontrollable. Governments are creating populations that are programmed to see evil in every shadow to the point of being scared of their own shadows. The money wasted on this venture would go a long way towards providing affordable housing, more accesible health care, recreational opportunities for regular citizens. Things that matter.
Kimmio
Posted on: 01/22/2014 10:06
I agree Kay. I didn't vote for the Olympics here. But once it was underway, I am one of the hypocrites who enjoyed the happy visitors and good spirit of the thing. I am not sure it was worth the expense, but it was fun.
Kimmio
Posted on: 01/22/2014 10:39
The best part of the Olympics was that Stephen Colbert came to visit and put on a free show in a local park- he was greeted by probably 1000 or more local fans at about 9 a.m. I was home sick with a bad cold- and sorry I had to miss it. He brought much levity to the city and I felt proud of us- I was probably more excited about him and his nightly 'coverage' than the sports events themselves. I haven't heard about him going to Sochi. He'd probably try to mock the anti-gay laws and end up arrested.