Tsar Vladimir
Russian
Tsar President Vladimir Putin wants people to know that Russia really really will be safe for gay people, during the Sochi Olympics. Or at least he wants to put a happy smiley face on what has become a
major diplomatic
embarrassment for him. In
his own sweet way:
Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana on Friday to wish them success at the Games. During a question-and-answer session, one volunteer asked him about Russia’s attitudes toward gays, a subject that has provoked worldwide controversy, and Putin offered what was apparently meant to be a reassuring answer for visitors to the Olympics.
“One can feel calm and at ease,” he said. “Just leave kids alone, please.”
That phrasing — with its intimation that gays might prey on children — hardly seems the kind of guarantee sought by the United States and other Western governments and human rights activists.
Because nothing is as reassuring as promoting one of the most
vicious homophobic lies. Sports tourists should help Putin by simply leaving Sochi alone. And empty.