The International Olympic Committee is letting Russia off far too easy. Russia has argued nonsensically that its new anti-gay law is in keeping with the Olympic Charter’s protections against discrimination, and the IOC simply has accepted it.
The law, approved by the Russian parliament in June, prohibits “propaganda” in support of “nontraditional” sexual relationships. This means virtually any expression of homosexual love, or approval of or information about homosexuality. Russians face fines; foreigners, deportation. But this is not discrimination, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak claimed in a letter to the IOC, because the law applies equally to gay and straight people.
