Last year, the Russian government made it a policy that homosexual groups could be punished by fine if they were caught advertising, or "propagandizing" young people about the gay life style. The call sent shock waves around the global gay community, and has been one of the biggest news stories to come out of the Sochi Winter Olympics besides the athletes themselves.
The U.S. has similar policies against homosexuality, at least at the state level, as outlined by Ian Ayres and William Eskridge in a Washington Post op-ed on Jan. 31. But when it comes to acceptance of gays in Russia, public opinion is clearly no fan of gay rights. It's one of the key society questions on which Russians can agree, more so than abortion. Only 9% say homosexuality is acceptable. A total of 72% say it is unacceptable, according to Pew Research. By comparison, 60% in the U.S. said society should accept homosexuality, nearly a mirror opposite.
Sochi has helped make gay rights a sports issue.
Monday's news that Missouri All-American defensive lineman Michael Sam coming out as a gay man is yet another part in the narrative of gay rights in sports. Almost by accident, Russia's so-called gay propaganda law may have given global athletes the confidence to come out, even if it means doing so in defiance of the status quo.
Within Europe, no one dislikes homosexuality more than the Russians.
Prior the the Opening Ceremonies, at least one protester defied the law by running through an Olympic parade in Sochi with a gay pride rainbow flag. He was quickly accosted by security officials in winter camouflage before a heavy-set Russian police officer took hold of his flag and called a squad car to take him away.
Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff openly denounced Russia's new law. Brockhoff is one of 7 lesbian athletes who reportedly threatened to "rip on (Putin's) ass" during the games which are in full swing this week. Brockhoff belongs to a small but determined group of athletes who plan to show their solidarity with Russia's embattled gay community during the Olympics.
There are no openly gay American athletes competing at Sochi, according to Outsports, an online magazine about gay athletes.
The sports world will likely follow the larger entertainment industry's support of gay rights issues. Sochi's Olympics are part of an ongoing cultural shift. In fact, the United Nations' human rights day on December 10 put homophobia in sports front and center.
And in Sochi last Friday, U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, addressing the International Olympic Committee, openly criticized Russia's laws.
"Many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice. We must all raise our voices against attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people," he told the IOC. "We must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face."
According to Pew Research, when asked if homosexuality should be accepted by society, 20% of Russians said yes to the question in 2007. It dropped to 16% last year. Attitudes towards gays also declined in Turkey, where society is even less accepting than the Russians, and in France, where 77% of society said homosexuality was acceptable.
See: Why Picking On Gays Has Backfired For Putin -- The Spectator
