By Bill Simons
When asked about the Winter 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Martina Navratilova said, “The biggest issue for gay people is not what’s going to happen at the Olympics, it’s what happens before and after. Right now, it’s okay to physically bash human beings for who they are, and that’s certainly not acceptable. The police are letting people get beaten up. You wouldn’t even let a dog get beat up, and yet you let human beings get beat up simply for who they are. Those laws are going to get changed eventually, but right now it’s a very unfriendly climate.”
Earlier at the Australian Open, IT asked the American-based Russian star Maria Sharapova—an Olympic correspondent for NBC who lived in Sochi from age four to seven, and whose grandparents and relatives still live there—what her feelings were about Russia’s anti-gay laws, which ban “propaganda on nontraditional sexual relationships.” She said she’d already expressed her views in a recent New York Times interview.
The article, by Christopher Clarey, notes, “Sharapova said she had gay and lesbian friends and believed individuals should have the opportunity to share their lives with whom they see fit.”
Regarding Russia’s laws, Sharapova said, “What needs to be addressed will ultimately be addressed … Time will address this issue. It will. I’m proud of being Russian, because I believe in the true core of its history and the culture, and that’s where I grew up … But never have I said that every individual there is perfect, or every law is right.”
Before having to withdraw from leading America’s delegation to the Olympics due to her mother’s illness, Billie Jean King told Fox’s Andy Roddick, “We are who we are, we’re athletes, we’re people, we happen to be gay. But [our going to Russia] is really telling the world that we’re there to support the LGBT community in Russia. I hope that it will help them feel maybe not as alone, that we’re there for them … It’s tough though, when the legislation—the rules aren’t the same for everybody. It’s almost like hate mail, because you see pictures of gay people being shoved, getting spit at, and because of the laws, it’s okay. I think that is not okay. It’s like hate.”
As for attending the Olympics, BJK was at first cautious, but decided to go to Russia “because it was the right thing to do. You don’t do the popular thing, that’s not how you get change … you do the right thing. Your principles are really important, you’ve got to stand by them”
Billie Jean confided that a shiver went up her spine when she heard Vladimir Putin’s comment to gay visitors, “Feel calm, at ease, just leave our kids alone, please.” Her response: “What are you talking about? It’s so scary that people think because you’re gay, you’re a pedophile. That is just pathetic … I would ask Putin to change the law, number one, but I’d like to have a dialogue with him and ask him, ‘Do you think gay people are pedophiles?'”
As for athletes and the media affecting change, BJK said, “The media can really ask questions to get answers from the athletes, all of them. And the athletes, I hope, will have discussions among themselves, but also get out there and talk. Like [skater] Ashley Wagner and Bode Miller have already come out for the LGBT community.”
Because of Olympic restrictions, King wants the media to bring up the issue, “so then the athlete can answer without getting in trouble. The one thing that I would like is [to] never have the Olympics in a country where there’s this type of discrimination in the future … I just hope that we can get more dialogue, get people thinking and talking about it … I want us to move this needle forward when it comes to the LGBT community, and equality for everybody. And I want love to overcome hate. I’m very idealistic, what can I say?”
