Actor George Takei among tens of thousands calling for Sochi Games to be moved to Van

[giallo]

KIM NURSALL
Vancouver — The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, Aug. 07 2013, 2:49 PM EDT



Activist and actor George Takei, best known as helmsman Lt. Sulu in the original Star Trek series, is boldly going where tens of thousands have gone before, denouncing Russia’s anti-gay laws, calling instead for the 2014 Games to move to Vancouver from Sochi.

He’s the latest celebrity to weigh in on the Olympic controversy, endorsing a petition at Change.org that had garnered more than 55,000 supporters by Wednesday afternoon.

Russia “intends to enforce its laws against visiting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) athletes, trainers and fans, meaning anyone even so much as waving a rainbow flag (and I presume many men enthusiastically watching and dramatically commenting on figure skating) would be arrested, held for weeks and then deported,” he wrote in a blog post posted Tuesday.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle13641678/



Obviously, they won't come here again, but I'm pretty shocked (ok, maybe not) at the state of Russia these days, and how it seems to be regressing further and further with regards to human rights.

Should countries boycott Sochi? It's unfair for the poor athletes who have trained so hard, but supporting this sort of government by giving them millions of tourist dollars and international exposure doesn't sit well with me.

[trofirhen]

The first thing that came into my head reading this was: does Vancouver have sufficient facilities for the 2014 OG? If not, what other facilities / sports venues will be needed to build?
And can they get it up and running in a year?

Although I rather think the games will not come to Vancouver, anyway, a decision may be made soon, so I wonder how the city can best be prepared on such short notice.

[DKaz]

It would be a bit of a half assed games at this point, but the thought of the Olympics coming back is nice.

[Pinion]

Are we still pretending the games weren't bad for the city?

[Spork]

Can I get a GO JACQUES GO

[Jebby]

I'm not boycotting Sochi. I'm so excited to go to the games!

[spm2013]

Thank you rainbow crosswalk!

[Nouvellecosse]

Did people not know what Russia was like when the games were awarded or are these just recent developments?

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Did people not know what Russia was like when the games were awarded or are these just recent developments?

I think it's fair to say most people didn't know how homophobic Russian society still is.

But most people knew how screwed up the Chinese government was in 2008 and were still A-OK with those games.

[spm2013]

Don't tempt them, they'll start Spartakiads again.

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by Pinion

I think it's fair to say most people didn't know how homophobic Russian society still is.

But most people knew how screwed up the Chinese government was in 2008 and were still A-OK with those games.

They won't be able to find any countries to host/participate in the Olympics if they all have to have a good human rights record.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by giallo

Obviously, they won't come here again, but I'm pretty shocked (ok, maybe not) at the state of Russia these days, and how it seems to be regressing further and further with regards to human rights.

They haven't had a good [recent] record of religious freedom either in their lower courts, though recently higher courts seem to be overturning those lower court decisions: http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/...ourt-decision/

[GMasterAres]

It will still happen in Russia. The Olympics is all about money and any semblance of this "free society" or the good notions of the games being good for society is nothing but myth. At best the games can highlight issues happening currently in the nation they are being held at and possibly start a movement within the country to break away from those norms. For example in Beijing, China was on the big screen and society there was introduced much more largely than in the past to the western world and other cultures. China is still China though but I would like to hope it has helped the transition the country is already undertaking.

Russia is in the same boat. They have progressed but they have a long way to go. Some of that is leadership, some of that is purely society so it takes time, it takes generations unfortunately. But I'd hope the Olympics can help that by putting a spotlight on these things. Boycotting though accomplishes nothing and at the end the true driver for the Olympics is money.

You couldn't run it in Vancouver again just because of money. Who would pay for it? All the security? All the construction. We're talking billions... not going to happen. The protests and petitions are good because it hits the news and it starts people talking. All you need is 1 follower to turn a nut into a leader after all.

[WarrenC12]

The Olympics are about money, pure and simple.

The fact that the games went to China is proof of that. Russia obviously can't manage their PR worth a damn, and that's why they are in the news and China's problems were glossed over.

Both countries don't represent anything close to the spirit of the games.

[Hed Kandi]

Is Lieutenant Sulu a fairy?

[memememe76]

Although the China Games went as scheduled, there was the same debate over their human rights record prior to the event. Tibet was an especially big story. Some former Olympic athletes like Elvis Stojko supported a boycott.

Isn't Russia's anti-gay law relatively recent? At the very least, it was passed after they were awarded the Games.

Anyways, not much sympathy for Russia or any country with a poor human rights record. If you get the Games, you will have the spotlight on you--for good and bad. When it was Canada's turn, there was a ton of attention on the killing of the baby seals in NFLD.

This story just made me realize how many of our Olympic venues have been converted for other use.

[spm2013]

Either boycott or protest it but talking about moving it anywhere is just pure fantasy.

[Zassk]

The Olympics have been moved with 1 year's notice before. But I believe those cases were due to issues with the host country's preparedness or willingness to host the games, not due to political issues.

[s211]

Sure, George. And would you like to pay for it also? Next.

[Jebby]

I am the only one who really doesn't care what Takei has to say?