August 14, 2013
U.S. runner Nick Symmonds became “the first international athlete to denounce Russia’s law against “gay propaganda” on the country’s soil.” He had just won the silver medal in the 800 m race in Moscow, and dedicated the medal to his gay and lesbian friends and called for LGBT equality. Concerns for LGBT athletes and supporters during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games began as early as March 2012, when a Russian judge blocked the establishment of a Pride House in Sochi, ruling that “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” would “undermine the security of Russian society”, and that it conflicted with public morality and the country’s policies “in the area of family motherhood and childhood protection.”
