Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Put your money where your mouth is. How many of you would quit your job to send a futile message to the Russian government that you know fully well they are not likely to soften their stance? Really how many here would quit their job for this principal? All you people that busted your hump the last four years to get to where you are at the company you work at. All the sacrifices to your family. Just throw all that away to protest this. This is what you are expecting of the athletes.
There is a lot of selfish in this thread but it's not the athletes or Canadians. It's the hypocrites that expect people who have invested a large chunk of their lives in their sports to throw that away for a futile cause to appease a forum warrier using his keyboard to emphasize his nobleness.
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Do you really think that the message is futile cause? The message here is the fact that the oppression of homosexuality is unacceptable and we will not condone Russia to institutionalize the discrimination of homosexuals. The existence of these ambiguous laws criminalizing "propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientations" reinforces the mindset that being homosexual is wrong. This devaluation of homosexuals is wrong. Human rights take precedence here, and it is not a futile matter that on a global scale, the IOC is implicitly supporting Putin's bigotry. The respect, value, and protection of every single human being trumps everything else.
It is absurd to say that the Olympics are just about the sport. Nothing in this world exists exclusively - the Olympics are a symbol of fairness and equal opportunity to compete. Do you really think that homosexuals will feel like they have the equal opportunity to compete in the Sochi games when they have to worry about being arrested just for kissing their partner on the street?
Every single human being on this planet should have the freedom to feel "right" in their own skin and express themselves without fear of being arrested.
Just because their government passed the law does not make it right. Yes, the majority of Russians support the law - but that also does not make it right. The law is meant to "protect children from vulgar images of homosexuality" but the law is so ambiguous that just talking about homosexuality or simple expressions of affection could be cause for arrest and fine. Look at that video of Putin inciting violence against diseased homosexuals. This is bigger than just the Olympic games - this is about the equality and respect of every single human being.
This is not the "west" imposing radical views on Russia. This is humanity standing up for the equality of all human beings and taking a stance on the fact that we will not allow this blatant disrespect of humanity.