One-off in Sochi won’t help

Editorial

As one of the premier international events of the past century, the Olympic Games are routinely dragged into the political mire of their times. Most hauntingly, scenes of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad, which took place amid seas of Nazi flags, remains a dark period – brightened only slightly by the fortuitous success of Jesse Owens, an African-American track star whose four gold medals rubbed the Aryan “master race” theory in Hitler’s face.

None of our readers needs to be reminded of the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian terrorists destroyed the ideal of Olympic fraternity (though 11 murdered Israelis detracted little from the determination that the show must go on).

Over the years, various Olympic Games have been boycotted by different countries for a variety of political reasons, the largest such action being the boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow by the United States, Canada and 63 other countries over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Now, pressure is rising to boycott the Sochi Winter Games in February in opposition to Russia’s anti-gay laws (most recently, against the “propagandizing of non-traditional sexual relations among minors,” with other laws planned) and implicitly sanctioned violence against gay people. While no country has committed to boycotting – Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird said over the weekend Canada has no intention of doing so – a grassroots campaign is exploding on Facebook and Twitter.

While, in principle, the Olympics symbolize international cooperation, in reality, they have betrayed their grand principles in a manner similar to the ways in which the United Nations have betrayed theirs. Whatever human ideals the Games are intended to embody are laid waste when they are hosted by repressive regimes like China and Russia.

That so many are calling for a boycott of Sochi and of Russian-made products (notably, vodka) is heartening. People know that something needs to be done, but are struggling to find what will have the greatest positive impact.

History has shown that boycotts do not always achieve their intended result, at least not in the short term, and one Olympics won’t a tolerant Russia make. The most we can expect to accomplish with any Olympic-related action is to put the Russian government and its supporters, the corporate and individual sponsors of Sochi 2014, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and anti-equality people everywhere on notice. Any action(s) must be part of a larger, long-term political, economic and social (media) push to gain basic human rights for everyone in the world. A goal we might not accomplish in our lifetime, but one for which we must continue to strive.

Suggested alternatives to boycotting the Winter Games have included that athletes and visitors defy the new law by promoting gay rights, exhibiting the gay flag or undertaking other “subversive” acts in Sochi. This comes with an amount of risk, as Russian officials have threatened to enforce the law, but wouldn’t it be inspiring to see the Olympics’ traditional Parade of Nations look more like a Gay Pride Parade? If an LGBTQ athlete wins a medal, wouldn’t it be great if all their fellow athletes and fans flew the flags of their country as well as the Pride flag?

Since the Olympics are such money-oriented events, why not pressure the money to promote gay rights in their advertising and packaging. Rainbow-themed Coca-Cola cans? McDonald’s non-traditional family meals? How can we hold Atos, Dow, GE, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung and the other sponsors to account – including CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s official broadcaster of the Games? Sign petitions, send e-mails, make your views known – corporations, even the biggest, respond to publicity that casts them in a negative light. The IOC is well-practised at ignoring moral questions, but eventually even they might start adhering to their stated principles if the public pressure is sustained beyond Sochi. Efforts beyond Sochi will definitely be necessary to change Russian policies and attitudes, and our politicians here in Canada (and other liberal democracies) must be encouraged to continue their diplomatic work in this area.

A one-off show of support will not help the LGBTQ community in Russia, or LGBTQ people, women, minorities and others who are persecuted around the world. We cannot be sprinters or armchair critics if we want to effect social change – in our own country, let alone in other countries. We have to out ourselves as supporters of equality and human rights, and we have to actively respect and promote those rights every day.

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