Petition to move 2014 Winter games to Vancouver supported by Star Trek star George Takei and 40,000 others

[mbal23]

You posted a link to the thread you are already posting in.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

You posted a link to the thread you are already posting in.

[Lychees]

...if it'll help ease the pain of the financial fiasco that is the Olympic Village, heck give it another go!

[7thMan]

How fast you are to dismiss the history, how conveniently By the way, if you think discrimination against Aboriginals is a thing of a past in Canada, you are sadly mistaken. Just so we are clear regarding the way law works.

Noone is throwing anyone in jail for being gay, the is prohibiting "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors." The law also bans public events that promote gay rights and public displays of affection by same-sex couples.

So, if you, for the duration of your stay in Russia do not promote non-traditional sexual relations around minors, host public events that promote gay rights or publicly display affections, you will not be thrown in jail.

I personally think its not too much to ask if you are a visiting a foreign country.

Gay olympic athletes and visitors can easily avoid breaking those rules for the duration of the Olympics.

[AppleMrHan]

"Propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" can mean anything from a protest to a really flamboyant secret handshake. If the Russian authorities think you're being gay, they can put you in jail.

So you're solution is that gay athletes and spectators just not be gay for a couple of weeks. I suppose that's simple enough. And when the Olympics are in Iran, women will simply need to cover their entire bodies except for their hands and faces for a couple of weeks. No big deal.

[7thMan]

You are blowing it way out of proportion. No one is arresting anyone for a handshake. No one is asking them not to be gay, just do not display it publicly while they are visiting a foreign country, respecting their laws. Being gay is nothing something one can change but displaying it in public is something that one can avoid. Yes, if we go to Iran, we should respect their religious beliefs and customs.

The basic premise is that you do not come to my house and tell me how to live my life there. While we might not agree with the way things are ran in Russia, we have an obligation to respect their laws, just as they respect ours.

[Common sense]

We can't tell Russia to change their rules, but we can refuse to hold an international event in a country with those rules. I'm not going to your house and telling you how to live, I'm telling you I won't go to your house if that's the way you're going to live. We only have to respect their laws if we're in Russia; people are petitioning against having the Olympics in Russia.

[Mike Vanderhoek]

Takei favours dumping Sochi for Vancouver

Former Star Trek star George Takei (left), along with over 40,000 other people, has signed an online petition calling for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to be moved to Vancouver. (AP)

SPORTSNET STAFF

AUGUST 7, 2013, 1:07 PM

An online petition to move the 2014 Winter Olympic Games from Sochi to Vancouver has accumulated over 40,000 signatures.

The petition is a result of anti-homosexual legislature that Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law on June 30.

The petition, found on Change.org, is imploring the IOC to move the games to Vancouver, the site of the 2010 Winter Games.

A statement on the petition's page reads, "In 2010 (Vancouver) successfully held the games. The facilities are already in place and can be made, with support, ready in the limited time period to host another games."

Among the many signees of the petition is former Star Trek star and current social media icon George Takei, who took to his personal blog to let his feelings be known.

"Many believe that such a call to move the Olympics out of Russia goes too far," Takei writes. "Would this be their opinion if the law instead called for the arrest of any Jews, Roman Catholics or Muslims should they display any sign of their religion, such as a wearing a yamaka or praying while facing Mecca? Discrimination in any form is a blight upon the Winter Games, and it must not be tolerated.

"Nations are not judged merely on their might, but also by how they treat their most vulnerable," Takei continues. "Russia's cynical and deplorable actions against the LGBT community have given license to hate groups within its borders to act with violence and impunity against a group, based solely on whom they were born to love. It now seeks to spread that hate abroad through its tainted Olympics. If Russia hopes to stand with the International Community, it must accept and adopt international principles of equality and non-discrimination."

The IOC has come out multiple times imploring Russia to change its policy but the petition's organizers believe it's falling on deaf ears.

"We appreciate (the IOC's) efforts in requesting Russia allow gay athletes to compete at the games, but this is not enough," the petition's statement reads.

Despite all of this pressure from the international community, Russia, so far, is refusing to budge on the issue.

Do you think the 2014 Winter Olympic Games should be moved from Russia?

Yes

No

VOTEView Results

[7thMan]

You do understand that the US has invaded dozens of countries and bombed dozens more and initiated coup d'etats the world over, not to mention cruel and criminal blockades that have starved to death to MILLIONS of people - all of this in the years preceding the 2002 olympics.

Reviewing these facts of history, one would hope that you had a similar stance of 'criticism' of the olympics taking place in Salt Lake City in 2002. Correct?

[Buggernut]

What right do we have to tell others what to do?

I'm not trying to defend Russian stand on homosexuality, but I do not think we have any right to tell them what to accept and what not to. Lets not turn Canada into another USA.

[Electro Rock]

However, the IOC could and should choose to not have any part in such a society and not endorse its ways by giving them the games.