Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Putin's message to Gays and Gay activists: You'll be safe at Olympics if you 'leave kids alone'

President Vladimir Putin said Friday that gay people have nothing to fear in Russia as long as they leave children alone. 
Putin met with a group of volunteers in the Olympic mountain venue at Krasnaya Polyana near Sochi on Friday to wish them success at the Games. During a question-and-answer session, a 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.
Gay rights have become a contentious issue at the Olympics, which begin Feb. 7, because Russia passed a law last year prohibiting “propaganda of nontraditional sexual practices” among ­minors. The law has been used to ban gay rights parades — children might see them — and to curb discussion of gay issues on television and in newspapers for fear that those younger than 18 might hear or read about homosexuality. Teachers ignore the subject, isolating gay teenagers. Some homophobes have interpreted the law as encouragement to beat up gays. And there has been talk of taking children away from gay parents.
Read the rest of the article HERE and listen to Putin's comments below:

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