Olympic Committee won't object to Russian LGBT arrests

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

St. Petersburg protester compares the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany with the 2014 Winter Olympics in anti-gay Russia. (Photo by Yury Goldenshtein, courtesy of the Straight Alliance for LGBT Rights.)

“The International Olympic Committee has said Russia was acting in accordance with its laws when police detained 14 protesters in Moscow and St Petersburg on the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies. Some of those held in Moscow report being beaten while in police custody.

” ‘We understand that the protesters were quickly released,’ Emmanuelle Moreau, the IOC’s head of media relations, said in an email to BuzzFeed. ‘As in many countries in the world, in Russia, you need permission before staging a protest. We understand this was the reason that they were temporarily detained.’ “

The IOC doesn’t mention that LGBT activists cannot get permits for their protests. That fact would undercut the IOC’s claims that there’s nothing to be concerned about in Russia during the Sochi Olympics.