What would be the end goal of a boycott?
I suggest the end goal should be to change people's thinking, not to change the laws, and especially not change the laws by force.
Forcing the law to change doesn't change how the people think, and may further entrench their thinking.
I think the best protest would be for athletes to behave exactly as they could wish to behave anywhere else. Perhaps you have an incident, but international pressure wouldn't let Russia actually jail anyone. However, what would happen, it that Russia would embarrass itself, and that kind of embarrassment is what could change people's thinking over there.
In short, they have to come to see that they are wrong. The Olympics are a good forum for change, but real change won't come with a boycott. You can't force people to change.
As an aside, I suspect that a boycott would lead to some counter boycotts at the same time or in the future. Countries that are firmly against homosexuality could very likely boycott us. Do we care? Perhaps not, but it is an extra wrinkle to the whole situation.
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