NEW YORK: Russian Gays Call For Boycott Of 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

A group of LGBT Russians living in the United States is calling for a boycott of the coming Winter Olympics over Russia's national ban on "homosexual propaganda."

"LGBT people in Russia are scared, they live in fear, and we want people to be aware of the issue. If they feel strongly about human rights they should boycott the Olympics in Sochi,” said Nina Long, co-president of RUSA LGBT, a Russian-speaking LGBT organization based in New York. “We really want the LGBT community to know it’s unsafe to travel there,” she said in an interview with RIA Novosti.  A statement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did little to ease her concerns, Long said. The committee told RIA Novosti in a statement that the IOC has a long commitment to non-discrimination against Olympic athletes, adding that “athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.” “They have to put up the statement like that, otherwise it’s an international scandal, but it’s a lie… it’s just to make it hush-hush and nice on some international level,” Long said.

The group has several hundred members from Russia and other nations of the former Soviet Union.

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