Judge upholds Pride House ban at 2014 Olympics

A judge has backed a ban imposed by the Russian Ministry of Justice to prevent a â┚¬Å”Gay Pride Houseâ┚¬Â at the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi. LGBT activists were hopeful for the house after the success of a similar facility at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. The Ministry refused the registration of the group to set up and organize the house dedicated to LGBT Olympic athletes and their families.
In mid-March, a court backed that decision, citing public morality as a concern.

â┚¬Å”The aims of the organization contradict the basics of public morality and the policy of the state in the area of family motherhood and childhood protection,' said Svetlana Mordovina in her ruling. â┚¬Å”The activities of the [Pride House] movement leads to propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation which can undermine the security of the Russian society and the state, provoke social-religious hatred, which is the feature of the extremist character of the activity.â┚¬Â

Her ruling went onto state that the Pride House would â┚¬Å”undermine the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.â┚¬Â
One organizer of the Pride House, Nikolai Alekseev, said that organizers were not going to let the judge's ruling be the end of the story. He and others have reached out to the International Olympic Committee.

â┚¬Å”We still aim to host a series of actions during the Olympics, and we are in contact with the International Olympic Committee,â┚¬Â he told the Gay Star News. â┚¬Å”Hopefully, a solution can be reached,â┚¬Â he said.

Of utmost concern, according to Alekseev, is the safety of openly LGBT athletes who plan to complete in the 2014 Winter Games. The Gay Pride House is a way to combat homophobia and to offer a safe haven to LGBT athletes. That mission, however, is not viewed favorably in Russia.

â┚¬Å”Such aims as creating an understanding of the necessity to fight against homophobia and the creation of positive attitudes towards LGBT sportsmen contradicts with the basics of public morality because they are directed towards the increase of the number of citizens of sexual minorities which breaches the understanding of good and evil, good and bad, vice and virtue,â┚¬Â Judge Mordovina said.

A Gay Pride House is planned for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and Chad Molleken, executive director of that facility, expects extra support for the institution after the ruling in Russia.

â┚¬Å”What is happening in Russia today makes it that much more important for everyone to get behind the Pride House London project now,â┚¬Â he said. â┚¬Å”As one of the most diverse and tolerant cities in the world, London has the opportunity to permanently establish Pride House as a part of the Olympic movement and line up of national houses.â┚¬Â