Update from Tim Stevenson (Gary Paterson’s spouse) in Sochi
 
 
 

Tim Stevenson is doing his best to rattle the cage of the Russian bear during his taxpayer-financed visit to Sochi.

Vancouver's openly gay deputy mayor raised issues of gay rights during a meeting with senior officials of the IOC.

Now Stevenson is asking for a sitdown with Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov, who famously claimed last month there are no gays in the Black Sea resort city.

"Not anymore," Stevenson said with a chuckle over the phone Wednesday from a city transformed into a fortress in advance of Friday's opening ceremonies.

 

 

The Russian government of Vladimir Putin provoked worldwide controversy with laws against "gay propaganda" in the run-up to the Winter Games.

Stevenson, representing Vancouver as the previous Winter Games host city, is pressing for meetings with Sochi organizers, the Russian Olympic Committee and with Pakhomov, who told the BBC last month homosexuality is "not accepted" in the city.

"I hope I could open his heart a little," Stevenson said. "I will say to him, 'I'm an openly gay man and I've been involved in the gay movement for 40 years.'

"I'd explain to him how homosexuality was illegal once in Canada and that 50 years ago I could have been thrown in jail. But attitudes change and our laws changed, too."

 

 

But Stevenson admits the Russians haven't been too keen to hear his message of tolerance.

While the Russians have so far ignored his requests to meet, Stevenson wonders if he's attracted the attention of something else: the all-pervasive Russian security apparatus. He's noticed a mysterious delay in the transmission of his Blackberry messages. And callers to his hotel are asked for their names before calls are patched through to his room.

Are the Russians monitoring his communications? "Maybe," Stevenson said.

 

 

But he also doubts he's much of a security priority in a city gripped by fears of threatened terror attacks.

"It's a total lockdown here," he said.

"They have the army and police on high alert. I doubt they're too worried about some gay guy from Canada talking about homosexuality."

 

Stevenson's trip has been controversial back home, too, where there have been complaints about the cost to taxpayers.

Stevenson originally planned to finance the trip through private donations -- including $50,000 pledged by local real-estate titans Bob Rennie and Peter Wall -- until rival city councillor George Affleck raised concerns about conflict of interest.

In a compromise, the city agreed to pay for Stevenson's expenses -- about $10,000 he figures -- while the private money is used to pay for a "project manager" travelling with Stevenson.

The trip was also criticized by Dick Pound, Canada's representative to the IOC, who said Stevenson has "no official role" in Sochi.

"I don't know whether it is a good choice of taxpayers' funds," said Pound, who expressed doubts whether the IOC would even meet with Stevenson.

But meet with him they did.

 

On Tuesday, Stevenson met with two senior IOC officials, including Jochen Farber, head of IOC president Thomas Bach's executive office.

"We hoped for a 10-to 15-minute meeting and it turned into a 90-minute discussion," Stevenson said. He said talks centred on Bach's promised Olympic Agenda 2020, which aims to renew IOC policies and practices.

 

 

"I came away convinced that human rights - including sexual orientation - is very much going to be a part of this review," said Stevenson, adding the IOC officials seemed "embarrassed" by Russia's anti-gay laws.

Stevenson reiterated to me he is in Sochi to talk to the mayor and any other Russian officials willing to meet him. They appear to know his phone number, and Stevenson is waiting for their call.

 

 
 
 
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