Tuesday, February 4, 2014

"A kiss is not just a kiss: Sports, Politics, and the Sochi Olympics"

The issue illustrated in all of these articles are ones associated with sports and politics. Similar to the separation of Church and State, sports and politics are no different. Although we say that these two things are not in accord with one another, they most certainly are. The political issues surrounding these articles are ones related to sexual orientation. In the "Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC" article by Stephen Fry, it becomes clear that this sports-politics relationship has happened many times in the past. Fry brings up the incident in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, when Jews were "banned from academic tenure or public office" causing the police to avoid any acts of violence towards this minority group. The Olympic movement also "paid no attention" to this discrimination and is again doing the same thing now with LGBT Russians.

The Olympics being used to frame this political debate can be seen in the Washington Post article, when Inouye states that the U.S. delegation "represents the diversity that is the United States". The "Accomplishments" he talks about later are directly correlated to "civic activism, and sports". This statement, parallels with the issues of gay rights in 2014 Olympics in Russia because it is being used to explain why President Obama is not attending the Olympics. While this may not be the entire the reason, it does appear from the article to be something that is a factor in the Presidents decision.

Standing up for these issues is a big deal. In terms of what should be done, I think this recognition and discussion about the issue should continue to remain open to the public eye. However, this could bring the "established" binary between politics and sports closure together. Awareness should be at the forefront because laws always have loop holes and/or are avoided.

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