A video has been posted by the Associated Press of members of the punk band Pussy Riot being whipped and sprayed with pepper spray by Cossack militia after attempting to perform under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics on Tuesday February 18th. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who were released from prison in December after […]
Vladimir Luxuria, former Italian politician and Europe’s first out transgender parliamentarian, has told reporters she was arrested for holding a sign bearing the slogan ‘Gay is Ok’ in Russian at the Sochi Winter Olympics. Luxuria was reportedly arrested on the night of Sunday the 16th of February by two plainclothes officers and not released until […]
Blondie have refused an invitation to play in Sochi in protest to Russia’s LGBT laws. The band were invited to play at the Red Rocks Festival, held at the Olympic main stage after the medal ceremony. The band’s leader singer Debbie Harry tweeted a picture of the invitation with the words ‘Pass. Human Rights’ written […]
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, has spoken out against Russian’s anti-gay propaganda laws as the Winter Olympics opened in Sochi. Speaking to the International Olympics Committee ahead of the opening ceremony the Secretary General highlighted that the theme of International Human Rights Day last December was ‘Sport Comes Out Against […]
Russian pop duo t.a.T.u., which rose to fame in the early 2000s with hits such as ‘All the Things She Said’, is reportedly going to play at the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics. According to the Wall Street Journal, the duo will play at the warm up show which is not internationally broadcast. […]
Mario Pescante, a senior Italian member of the International Olympics Committee, has criticized the United States for its inclusion of openly gay athletes in its official delegation for the Sochi Olympics. Pescante let his opinions be known at an IOC meeting in Milan. “”It’s absurd that a country like that sends four lesbians to Russia […]
The two jailed members of rock band Pussy Riot are set to be freed as the Russian parliament passes an amnesty. The State Duma, the country’s lower house, unanimously approved the amnesty proposed by President Vladimir Putin to mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of Russia’s post-Soviet constitution. The amnesty is expected to bring […]
US President Barack Obama has appointed tennis legend Billie Jean King to the USA’s official delegation to the Sochi Olympics. The inclusion of a high profile lesbian athlete has been seen as a direct response to Russia’s controversial anti-gay laws. On her Twitter account King posted, “Honored to represent USA in Sochi and I hope […]
Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff has announced she’s gay and says she’s prepared to wear a rainbow symbol at the Sochi Olympics. Brockhoff was speaking to the ABC program ‘Lateline’ when she made the declaration. “I want to be able to be who I am, be proud of who I am and be proud of all […]
British actor, writer and ‘all round amazing guy’ Stephen Fry as written an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, British Olympic Chair Lord Sebastian Coe and President of the International Olympics Committee Jacques Rogge. Fry asks them to ban the 2014 Winter Olympics scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Sochi […]
