No Gay People in Sochi, Mayor Claims

[mystery-ak]

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/gay-people-sochi-mayor-claims/story?id=22166765

No Gay People in Sochi, Mayor Claims
SOCHI, Russia Jan. 27, 2014
By KIRIT RADIA

Amid swirling anti-gay sentiment in Russia, Sochi’s mayor claims there are no gay people in his city.

“It’s not accepted here in the Caucasus where we live. We do not have them in our city,” Anatoly Pakhomov told BBC Panorama in an interview.

Pakhomov said gays were welcome to visit Sochi, which will host the Winter Olympics in just under two weeks, as long as they “respect Russian law” and “don’t impose their habits on others.”

Of course, if Pakhomov were to visit the crowded nightclub Mayak, located just off the beach in downtown Sochi, he would find the city’s most popular gay cabaret.

Pakhomov, who the New York Times Magazine recently described as “a garrulous, barrel-bellied apparatchik of the new Russia,” went on to say that he was not sure if there are gay people in Sochi.

“I am not sure, but I don’t know them,” he told the BBC.

His comments come amid outrage overseas about Russia’s gay “propaganda” law, which forbids even talking about homosexuality around minors. Gay rights groups have feared that gay athletes and fans could be prosecuted if they attend the Olympics.

In an interview with a small group of journalists two weeks ago, including ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the law, saying it was meant to protect children.

“It seems to me that the law that we have adopted does not hurt anyone. Moreover, individuals of non-traditional orientation cannot feel like second-rate humans in this country because they are not discriminated against in any way,” Putin said.

“I couldn't care less about their sexual orientation. We will welcome all athletes and all visitors to the Olympics,” he added. “None of our guests will have any problems.”

Gay rights activists in Russia, however, say the new law has given momentum to an anti-gay movement in Russia, which in some instances has turned violent.

[ABX]

Russia seems to have crossed the line a while back from simply no propaganda to sounding more and more like Iran. I can understand the ban on propaganda and promotion (although when a government determines what propaganda is and isn't acceptable, you run into greater problems). How does Sochi ensure there are no gays? 

I've been very disturbed in some of the language I've heard lately from our side. We are almost indistinguishable from the left in tone. Just replace 'gay' with whatever they don't like and the language is the same. Either way, it is a rejection of judging one based on them being an individual but instead, damning them as a group.

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

[EC]

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

It is a concern. Yet one I think is born of frustration, more than anything else.

What people say, especially in a relatively consequence free area like the net, is rarely how they would act in real life. To stick with homosexuals - people who consider them sinful and foul and speak loudly about it on fora would probably be among the first to call the cops or get involved if they saw abuse happening right in front of them. Their self image demands it. Plus - they are people.

[alicewonders]

I think the law is forbidding talking about homosexuality to minors.  I'm not saying I agree with that tactic, but I think it is born out of frustration of our children being ever and ever more exposed to things that are inappropriate for them before they become more fully developed. 

I remember when I was a child - television shows had parents sleeping in separate beds.  Some things were just not discussed in front of children and I believe that is appropriate.  Freedom of speech and indoctrinal propaganda.....there's a blurry line there. 

[EC]

I remember when I was a child - television shows had parents sleeping in separate beds.  Some things were just not discussed in front of children and I believe that is appropriate.  Freedom of speech and indoctrinal propaganda.....there's a blurry line there. 

Alice - you just reminded me of an old MAD magazine article about TV. Couple laying in their separate beds, separated by a small table with a lamp on it.
Wife says, George, I have some wonderful news!"
George goes wide eyed and stammers "You mean ...."
She replies "Yes, dear. The nightstand is pregnant."

 

[happyg]

Russia seems to have crossed the line a while back from simply no propaganda to sounding more and more like Iran. I can understand the ban on propaganda and promotion (although when a government determines what propaganda is and isn't acceptable, you run into greater problems). How does Sochi ensure there are no gays? 

I've been very disturbed in some of the language I've heard lately from our side. We are almost indistinguishable from the left in tone. Just replace 'gay' with whatever they don't like and the language is the same. Either way, it is a rejection of judging one based on them being an individual but instead, damning them as a group.

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

Another good post, A. I am of a mind to let God figure it out. On a personal level, I don't condone homosexuality, but don't have anything against homosexuals. The only ones I'm bothered by are the activists who over-emote. I feel the same way about heterosexuals, like Lady Gaga, who go to extremes, as well. I didn't watch the gay weddings on the Grammys, but feel that wasn't the place for activism. But then, that's Hollyweirdos, who took the beauty out showcasing true talent.

[musiclady]

I'd just like America to get back to the point where a person can say the words, "I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman" without being censured, ridiculed, attacked as a "homophobe" and called a hater.

What we are seeing from "our side" is a reaction to being bullied by the left.

While I don't agree with everything being said, I certainly understand the motivation behind it.

As for Russia and Sochi, even though he is a thug-dictator (not unlike our own), I agree with Putin about not propagandizing children.

The mayor of Sochi is clearly an idiot.

But any of our athletes who are homosexuals should probably not advertise it and attack others' beliefs in opposition to their lifestyle.

I think the problem of terrorism is far more real than having anything negative happening to an athlete who happens to be a homosexual.

[mountaineer]

I think the problem of terrorism is far more real than having anything negative happening to an athlete who happens to be a homosexual.

When some homosexual in Russia or the Middle East gets killed by an idiot Islamicist's suicide bomb simply by walking into a restaurant or boarding a bus, it won't really matter how he pursued sexual pleasure during his life. It may matter to God, of course, but when the killers are out to annihilate an entire population of non-Muslims, it's not so easy to sort out the homosexuals from the heterosexuals (or, at least, their guts).