If Vlad Putin didn't intimidate U.S. figure skaters, the IOC and the USOC certainly did.
In Park City, Utah, today, skaters at the U.S. Olympic Committee media summit were asked about the draconian antiLGBT legislation recently passed in Russia.
Only one of the three skaters quoted by the L.A. Times supported LGBTs: Ashley Wagner, who said, mildly: "For me, [the law] is not something I personally agree with."
Lysacek and Gold punted without uttering a syllable of support for LGBT athletes.
Perhaps Gold and Lysacek are a) homophobic, b) apathetic, c) compliant tools of the IOC and/or USOC or d) worried that Russian figure skating judges may already be starting to keep score.
If an athlete is compelled to voice support for the LGBT community in Russia, that's awesome, hats off to him/her. But to demand or shame everyone into doing so is ridiculous and smacks of bullying. The Russian government is the enemy here, not the athletes -- whether they be Russian or American.
ReplyDeleteYour concerns about bullying are touching. Have you relayed them to the IOC or Vlad Putin?
ReplyDeleteApparently you have one standard of bullying for the IOC and Putin and a lesser standard for yourself? Bullying is bullying. Can you say hypocrite?
ReplyDeleteThe IOC and Putin bullying standards are, respectively, sanctions for "political" speech (which, for LGBTs, are rather broadly defined) during the Olympics and arrest, jail and deportation.
DeleteAKSARBENT doesn't begin to meet that standard, much less exceed it, as you preposterously claim.
Go to your room and take your laughably elastic definition of bullying, which you seem to think equals criticism, with you.
As for "hypocrite", not only can we say the word, we know what it means: claiming to be one thing publicly, but doing the opposite — an excellent description of both the IOC and Putin.
I know! If a young skater, (Gracie is 18), doesn't do exactly what I think they should do and if they don't say exactly what I think they should say. I'll just go online and call them a bunch of evil and ugly names and if anybody calls me on it, I'll just write more mean things. I would never want to write reasoned calls to these athletes to get them to step up and support my cause, because that would be thoughtful and kind. No it is so much more fun to be angry and self righteous and say ugly things about people I have never met and counldn't care less about.
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