Urge Olympic sponsors to speak out against Russian homophobia; protest on 5 February.

In Russia, you can now be fined or arrested for speaking publicly about gay, lesbian, bi or trans issues; new laws have fuelled a massive surge in anti-gay violence within the country.

But Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter states that “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement” – and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has now confirmed that this includes sexual orientation.

The International Olympic Committee have also confirmed that athletes have free speech in the Olympic press conferences.

This means athletes can use the Winter Olympics to bring attention to the discrimination and pressure Vladimir Putin to repeal the hateful laws.

The more athletes speak up, the more Putin will be forced to act.

Raising the issue in press conferences will take – considerable – courage, but at least there is a way for athletes to start the discussion.

Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter makes it very clear that any kind of discrimination is incompatible with the Olympic movement – which is why rights groups Athlete Ally and All Out launched the Principle 6 campaign.

And athletes all over the world  have already spoken out against Putin’s stance, as Andre Banks, executive director and co-founder of All Out pointed out, but, he continued, “Olympic sponsors are failing to live up to their commitments.”

Sponsors, he said, “continue to look the other way while gays and lesbians in Russia suffer.”

And Peter Tatchell, director of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, added: “None of the corporate sponsors have explicitly condemned the Russian anti-gay law or homophobic violence in Russia.

“They’ve made only general, vague equality statements.

“This isn’t good enough.

“I would have expected them to make a simple statement such as: ‘We are deeply concerned about new Russian legislation that discriminates against the LGBT community. ‘We deplore the homophobic violence that is taking place in Russia.’

“It is shameful and cowardly that they feel unable to say this.

“The intensely homophobic atmosphere in Russia, orchestrated by President Putin’s government, means it would be very unlikely for an openly gay athlete to be selected for the Russian Olympic squad.

“The Kremlin has banned a Pride House – a social meeting space for gay athletes and spectators, like the one at the London 2012 Olympics.

“These are clear breaches of the anti-discrimination Principle Six of the Olympic Charter.

“Yet the International Olympic Committee has said and done nothing.

“It is allowing the Russian government to ban a Pride House and has not required the Russians to give a written undertaking that they will not discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes in the selection of Russia’s team for the Olympics.

“The IOC has hinted that any athlete who expresses support for LGBT equality during the games could face disciplinary action, possibly including expulsion and being stripped of any medals won.

“The IOC’s top priority is not Olympic values or human rights. It is driven by commercial interests. The Olympics are big business.

“The host nation and corporate sponsors are king. Nothing must be allowed to detract from financial success and ‘good news’ PR – certainly not the plight of Russia’s persecuted LGBTs.

“The 1936 Berlin Olympics took place in an atmosphere of anti-Semitic hatred incited by the Nazi government.

“The 2014 Sochi Olympics echo that hatred, only this time the victims of demonisation are LGBT people.

“There are no Nuremburg laws or concentration camps but the hateful anti-gay propaganda is similar to the anti-Semitism stirred by the Nazis in the early 1930s.

“How can there be normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime like Putin’s Russia?” Tatchell asked.

By openly showing support for Principle 6, everyone can celebrate the values that inspire the Olympic Games and stand in solidarity with lesbian, gay, bi and trans people in Russia and around the world.

The list of Olympians and sportswomen supporting Principle 6 includes Sochi-bound Olympian Belle Brockhoff and Australian tennis player and four-time Olympian Rennae Stubbs; gold medallists and soccer players Megan Rapinoe and Lori Lindsey; soccer player Sally Shipard; two-time gold medallist rower Caryn Davies; US basketball star Teresa Edwards; Canadian speed skater Anastasia Bucsis; US Paralympic tennis player Sharon Kelleher, US speed skater and silver medalist Miriam Rothstein; Australian national soccer team players Michelle Heyman and Lydia Williams and world renowned endurance swimmer Diana Nyad – and others.

Here in the UK you can show your support by joining the Sochi Winter Olympics protest on 5 February, from 6pm-7pm at Downing Street, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AA.

At 6.30pm a delegation will deliver – to the nearby McDonald’s, at 45-47 Whitehall SW1A 2BX – the 100,000 plus All Out petition calling on Olympic sponsors to speak out.

You can sign this petition here.

This protest is part of a Global Speak Out that is taking place on 5 February in cities around the world and aims to urge governments and the International Olympic Committee, to uphold Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter.

It is also to call on Olympic corporate sponsors – such as Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Visa – to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay law and homophobic violence.

“The Global Speak Out means a lot to us here in St Petersburg, Russia”, said Dmitry, one of the local organisers in St Petersburg.

“Together with thousands of people around the world we are going to show Russian authorities they can’t attack lesbian, gay, bi or trans (LGBT) Russians with impunity, without risking their international reputation and the success of our Olympics.”