Russian officials have told gay Olympic athletes and spectators preparing for 2014's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia—and anyone publicly showing support for them—that they will be prosecuted under Russia's "gay propaganda" law, which makes talking about being gay, waving a rainbow flag, or holding hands with a same-sex partner in public illegal. Please immediately pass a resolution suspending the sister-city relationship between Flagstaff and Barnaul; it is an embarrassment to our citizens, and wrong, to be associated with such homophobia.
Why is this important?
Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Murko, has said that foreign nationals, including Olympic athletes and spectators, will be subject to Russia's archaic homophobic laws during the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. I hope our beautiful city of Flagstaff will send a clear message that violence against LGBT citizens of, and visitors to our sister city, Barnaul, the Olympic host city, Sochi, and all of Russia is unacceptable and cannot stand.
