Quote:
Originally Posted by Pointman
So, what if russian players will be wearing some patch against it? Imagine it for a minute — this is precisely the same, as Canadian players with rainbow patches in Russia (I'm not saying that the issues are the same, I'm only saying that public reaction will be the same).
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A patch may not change the minds of Russians or the Russian government, but it would do several other things:
1) Tell the world where Canada stands in terms of LGBT rights. Ending slavery didn't happen in every country at the same time, but one by one, countries took an ethical stand and stopped the disgusting practice. But it took people standing up and letting others know that they thought it was wrong for progress to be made.
2) Tell the LGBT citizens of Canada know that we support them and their rights, both here and abroad. That we respect them. We saw just last year here in Ottawa the son of a city councillor committed suicide because he was being bullied and tormented for being gay. The "It Gets Better" campaign shouldn't need to exist because it shouldn't be bad to start with. We can send a signal to young people that being gay is no different than being of another race or religion and they should feel free to be who they are rather than hiding it.
3) It tells those suffering as LGBT in other countries that Canada is a safe haven for people wanting to escape foolish and cruel persecution in other countries. If Russia has talented engineers or doctors that happen to be gay, Canada would welcome them.