I came across a poll today and the question was asked, Should the Olympics be Moved Out of Russia? The response was 44% Yes; 56% No. As you may or may not know, Russian president, Vladimir Putin signed a law earlier this summer that essentially criminalizes any public acknowledgment of being LGBT. He has explicitly said that he cannot ensure the safety of gay athletes at the Olympics. So, what’s your take on this? Should the Olympics be moved from a country that obviously shows such hatred toward gay athletes? One could argue that right here in the USA people are discriminated against just for their alternative lifestyle. In fact, people have been gay bashed and murdered by complete strangers who disagreed with their sexual preference. So, does that mean the Olympics should be outlawed here? The article makes some good points for both sides. Some of the comments for those who voted IN FAVOR of moving the Olympics were: The Olympic Charter requires that all athletes be treated equally and their safety provided for. The Russian Sports Minister basically said that they will ignore this – that gay Olympians “may or may not be” safe. Russia is defying the Olympic Charter, which both in spirit and wording, stands for the protection of equalities both for athletes and their supporters around the world. Russia has outlawed the LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning, and Allied) community and these people are being jailed. Who’s to say these people from our country who are our Olympic athletes won’t also be arrested or harmed? Hitler was discriminating against people in 1936 and we appeared to turn a blind eye then. We cannot allow that same mistake to happen for a second time. Voters of those OPPOSED to moving the Olympics made the following comments: Russia is a sovereign nation with its own laws. Who are we to tell them how to run their country? The US is not the world police. It’s not up to us to say what they can or what they cannot have. It is bullying and abuse to do so, and it makes neither side correct when one side is telling the other what to do. All it would do is punish the U.S. Athletes who have trained a good portion of their lives to compete in a world competition and possibly deny them the chance to prove they are the best. One of the main points of the Olympics IMO is for countries who don’t see eye-to-eye to be able compete in a non-violent way. There are only 25 weeks until the Olympic Games, the only city that could ever set up in time would be Vancouver, but even a city controller said that moving the games would not be a practical move. I’ve included the link below so you can read the entire article. So, what do you think? What side of the issue are you weighing in on? http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-olympics-be-moved-out-of-russia
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