Sports

Sometimes called “Australia’s most vocal athlete about Russia’s anti-gay propaganda laws in the lead up to the Winter Olympics,” Belle Brockhoff is an Olympic snowboarder and a gay person.

Ireen Wust, one of only seven openly LGBT Olympic athletes competing in Sochi, claimed a speedskating gold medal at her third straight Winter Olympics, knocking off defending champion Martina Sablikova in the 3,000 meters Sunday.

The mascara-lined eyes of a petite man dressed in a tuxedo greet visitors after they buzz at the armor-plated door of a one-story building. Welcome to the Mayak cabaret, the most reputable gay club in Sochi, and one of the few safe places for gays in the Olympic host city to meet.

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — An openly gay women’s ski jumper says protests against Russia’s law banning homosexual “propaganda” aimed at minors aren’t worth it because “no one cares.”

From Anything But Coke: “By now, most people have heard about the LGBT activists protesting Sochi and the Olympic sponsors. But not everyone knows why, or what they can do to help.”

Via Every Athlete: “As the Olympics begin we want to send a message of support to all the athletes competing – LGBTQ and otherwise. We understand that there are many opinions surrounding how to best voice concerns over what is happening in Sochi, some even calling for a full boycott. While we see value in […]

Olympic competition first, gay rights maybe later. Plenty of athletes made clear before traveling to Sochi how unhappy they were about gay rights being curtailed in Russia, particularly with its law banning gay “propaganda.” But now in Sochi, there has not been a squeak of public protest from the 2,870 Olympians – either at venues or at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Anja Paerson is embracing her post-competition career with the same kind of enthusiasm she showed off with her customary, celebratory belly flops on the snow. After all, the Swedish skiing great has a lot to be excited about these days. She’s a mother. She’s working on TV, and she’s back at the Olympics.

When top Western leaders decided to stay away from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Winter Olympics, he wasn’t exactly left friendless: he has the heads of leading Asian nations and others to help show the world that not everyone is put off by his human rights record and the anti-gay law he championed.

For months, President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the International Olympic Committee have been dismissing world concerns over Russia’s anti-gay laws and violence with assurances that LGBT athletes and spectators will be safe in Sochi. They’ve offered no such peace of mind to LGBT Russians, who won’t have the luxury of leaving the host country after the Olympics are over. Behind the facade of a nation sanitized for TV, gay Russians have become prey to hate-filled fellow citizens who call their anti-gay hunts “safaris.” I refuse to be one more TV viewer…