WASHINGTON, June 21 (RIA Novosti) – A prominent US-based human rights group has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pressure the Russian government to reject a proposed ban on “the promotion of nontraditional sexual relationships” that has been widely criticized by gay rights activists around the world ahead of next year’s Sochi Winter Games.
“We urge the IOC to take additional steps to send a clear signal to the Russian authorities that discrimination of people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is sharply at odds with Russia’s human rights and Olympic commitments,” the New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a letter this week to IOC director general Christophe De Kepper.
The watchdog group, a consistently harsh critic of the Kremlin’s rights record, also slammed Russian authorities in the letter for refusing to grant permission for a so-called “Pride House” for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes at the Sochi games.
The project is aimed at combatting discrimination against sexual minorities, Pride House organizers say, and was set up at both the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Last week, Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, gave final approval to the bill that would make “promotion of nontraditional sexual relationships” punishable by a fine of up to 1 million rubles ($30,000).
In order to become law, the bill needs to be passed by the country’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and signed by President Vladimir Putin, which is expected to be a mere formality.
In its letter to the IOC this week, HRW said both the legislation, which it called “pernicious,” and the refusal to allow the Pride House are “incompatible with Russia’s responsibilities to the Olympic Movement and the IOC as host of the Games.”
The IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the rights watchdog’s letter Friday. But the committee told RIA Novosti earlier this week that it has a long commitment to nondiscrimination against Olympic athletes, adding that “athletes of all orientations will be welcome at the Games.”
Homosexuality was only decriminalized in Russia in 1993, and anti-gay sentiment remains strong in society, including among Russia's political establishment. In 2007, former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov described attempts to hold a gay parade in the capital as “satanic.”
The Duma this week unanimously approved amendments banning the adoption of Russian children by foreign couples in same-sex relationships, legislation that is also expected to become law.
While Putin has urged tolerance in relation to “people of traditional and nontraditional [sexual] orientation,” he has vowed to sign the adoption ban and made it clear that gay marriage goes against the government’s idea of “traditional Russian values.”
