August 6, 2013

Outrage Over an Antigay Law Does Not Spread to Olympic Officials

By JERÉ LONGMAN

The Winter Olympics begin six months from today in Sochi, Russia. Athletes find themselves in a risky situation. On the one hand, they face prosecution for advocating for gay rights. On the other, they face banishment by Olympic officials for publicly opposing Russia’s discriminatory new law.

Just as Russia now prohibits “propaganda” in support of “nontraditional” sexual orientation, the Olympic charter prohibits athletes from making political gestures during the Winter and Summer Games.

So it is entirely possible that any bobsledder or skier wearing a pin, patch or T-shirt in support of gay rights could be sent home from Sochi, not by Russian authorities, but by another group that suppresses expression: the International Olympic Committee.

Would the I.O.C. inflict such a public-relations disaster on itself? Perhaps not. But Olympic officials worldwide, including those in the United States, along with NBC and corporate sponsors, have put themselves and athletes in an awkward position by only tepidly opposing the Russian law that bans “homosexual propaganda.”

Blake Skjellerup, a short-track speedskater from New Zealand, has said he plans to wear a gay-pride pin in Sochi; if he gets into trouble, “so be it.” Harvey Fierstein, the playwright and actor, has called for a boycott of the Winter Games. Gay rights activists in New York and elsewhere have urged the removal of Russian vodka from bars.

But those who organize, broadcast and underwrite the Games have offered little beyond tardy and lukewarm criticism.

The Olympic charter calls sport a human right that should be practiced “without discrimination of any kind.” But all the indignation the I.O.C. could muster about Russia’s new antigay law was a statement saying the Olympic Committee would “oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardize this principle.”

Just as the I.O.C. said it had received assurances that the law would not be enforced at the Sochi Games, Russia’s sports minister said that it would be.

Before the law was passed, the I.O.C. could have pressured Russian officials, saying it would not support the Sochi Games under such conditions. Instead, the Olympic Committee acquiesced.

In contrast to the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2012 London Games, there will be no Pride House in Sochi as a meeting point and informational hub for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes.

And even if the propaganda law is not enforced during the Sochi Games, it will remain on the books after the Olympics end.

“There should have been early, alarmed communications by the I.O.C. in relation to the law,” said Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives and an Olympics expert for Human Rights Watch. “As far as we know, there weren’t.”

The Olympic movement is again at risk, as it was previously over doping and corruption scandals, Worden said. “The Olympic charter talks about human dignity,” she said. “How is it consistent with dignity to let this discrimination pass without anything more than mild condemnation?”

The United States Olympic Committee could have joined with Olympic committees from other nations and said they would not tolerate such a discriminatory law.

But that did not happen. And American officials decided not to speak out unilaterally. Scott Blackmun, the U.S.O.C.’s chief executive, sent a note to American Olympic officials saying, “While we strongly support equal rights for all, our mission is sustained competitive excellence” and not political advocacy.

The United States may be reluctant to speak out because, among other things, it has only recently repaired a fissured relationship with the I.O.C. Larry Probst, the U.S.O.C. chairman, is seeking to become an I.O.C. delegate in a vote next month. Such caution apparently extends to Olympic officials worldwide as another vote is set to replace Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C. president.

As Olympic officials are consumed with internal politics, Olympic athletes are left with the possibility of being fined, detained and deported for violating Russia’s new law of intolerance.

NBC officials might have been expected to speak forcefully, given that the network paid $775 million to broadcast the Sochi Games, and that its journalists face the potential of being prosecuted for addressing the issue of homosexuality.

Documentary filmmakers from the Netherlands were arrested in Murmansk, Russia, and deported two weeks ago for violating the propaganda law, according to Human Rights Watch.

“Is NBC prepared to stop a live feed, or not interview any athletes?” Worden asked. “How prepared are they for a situation where someone wears a rainbow flag or says, ‘I support gay marriage?’ ”

NBC Universal reiterated on Tuesday a statement that it “strongly supports equal rights and the fair treatment of all people.”

Recently, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, told television critics, “If it is still their law and it is impacting any part of the Olympic Games, we will make sure that we acknowledge it and recognize it.”

Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s also have been publicly muted. In effect, they are underwriting the Games in Sochi that contradict their own corporate policies against discrimination.

Perhaps the strongest statement came several days ago from Richard Carrion, an I.O.C. delegate from Puerto Rico who is trying to succeed Rogge as president. In the future, Carrion said, nondiscrimination should be a condition for hosting the Olympic Games.

But that will be too late for Sochi.