In September 2013, it became known that immediately after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, Moscow could host a “gay Olympics”. The organizers of this event hope that the state will support it and are trying to establish contact with officials, although they have not yet responded to their requests. In the opinion of the State Duma deputies, the Olympics for gays contradicts the recently adopted law on "propaganda of homosexuality."
Gay Olympics Organizers
The idea of holding a "gay Olympiad" belongs to the chairman of the board of the Russian LGBT Sports Federation, Viktor Romanov, who claims that such competitions are held among firefighters, small peoples of the North and other social groups. Members of sexual minorities should also have the right to engage in amateur and professional sports.
Viktor Romanov was inspired to create a sports federation for sexual minorities and hold their own Olympics by attending a gay competition that took place in 2010 in Germany. Thousands of spectators and the support of the government of that country for the last event inspired him to develop "gay sports" in Russia.
According to Viktor Romanov, there are more than 800 people in the Russian Federation of LGBT Sports. There are both individual members and teams. There are no contributions to the organization, since it is registered as an NPO. Over the course of two years, the Federation has held 20 tournaments. At first they were open, but gradually the adoption of federal and regional laws banning "propaganda of homosexuality" forced them to be held behind closed doors.
Plans for the "Gay Olympics"
At present, the Federation hopes to attract funds from abroad, and it also plans to hold competitions at the expense of Russian sponsors and the participants themselves. The federation hopes to change the attitude of the authorities over time. With a proposal for cooperation, its members turned to the Ministry of Sports of Russia and Moskomsport. But, as stated by the Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko, the ministry cooperates only with federations that are registered in sports.
The deputies who passed the law against "propaganda of homosexuality" also do not give detailed comments. Alexander Ageev from Fair Russia and Vladimir Bessonov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation noted that, by virtue of the adopted law, the holding of the Olympics with the participation of sexual minorities is extremely doubtful.
