Fix proposed for Ellis Act
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New look for 'Breakfast Club'
ARTS
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Taylor Mac on 'Hir'
The
www.ebar.com
Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971
Vol. 44 • No. 6 • February 6-12, 2014
World watches as Olympics begin SF protest to mark Sochi games by Roger Brigham
Jane Philomen Cleland
Human rights and sports experts, Krista Hanson, Ph.D., left, Julie Dorf, and Helen Carroll discussed the Winter Olympics during a Commonwealth Club forum February 4.
LGBT Russians at risk, panel says
The Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi will host the figure skating and short track speed skating events at the Winter Olympics, which begin Thursday (February 6). Courtesy rt.com
by David-Elijah Nahmod
L
GBT Russians, more so than their Olympic counterparts, are at risk under the country’s anti-gay propaganda law, human rights and sports experts said this week. See page 3 >>
Neighbors walked their dogs past LGBT activists picketing in front of the Russian Consulate in San Francisco last August opposing the gay propaganda ban in that country. Rick Gerharter
LGBT viewers’ guide to Sochi games by Lisa Keen
T
ensions are high as the 2014 Winter Olympics prepares to get under way Thursday (February 6) with figure skating and skiing events and then with the globally televised opening ceremony Friday. While there is a tremendous amount of anxiety over the possibility of a terrorist attack against the games in Sochi, Russia, there is also considerable uncertainty around who might protest the country’s new anti-gay laws and how and when they might do so. Beyond the expectation that some might wear rainbow pins or hats that include “P6,” a reference to the Olympic charter’s non-discrimination policy, there are hints of bands playing “YMCA” and one skater promising to “rip” into Russian President Vladimir Putin after she’s finished her competition. There is even more uncertainty about what the Russian government will do to anyone who does protest or violate its laws by expressing some positive message about being gay.
For U.S. television audiences interested in watching the Olympics for signs of LGBT demonstrations or visibility, there are two options: watch a condensed broadcast of the events each evening on NBC, which is covering the games; or watch live webstreams at NBCOlympics.com, keeping in mind that Sochi is 12 hours ahead of West Coast time. The following is a list of specific events at which the potential for LGBT visibility is
higher than most: Thursday, February 6: Dutch lesbian Cheryl Maas will be competing in the Ladies Slopestyle snowboarding event. She has a profile video, Through My Eyes, that talks about her wife and child. She has spoken in the Dutch press about her unhappiness with the International Olympic Committee choosSee page 13 >>
T
he Winter Olympic Games open this week in Sochi, Russia with a worldwide audience expected to be focused as much on who will make a politically charged stand as who will win medals. Protests of Russia’s anti-gay laws are planned in San Francisco and other cities around the globe. With millions of dollars of sponsorship money from the likes of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s on the line and NBC television cameras trained on every medal ceremony, the anticipation for many LGBT and allied viewers will be for an athlete – any athlete – to test the line between sports and politics and publicly denounce Russian laws aimed at rendering LGBT individuals invisible. Russia has spent $51 billion in infrastructure upgrades and operational costs for the event – more than the cost of any previous Summer or Winter Olympics. Concerns over potential regional Islamic terrorism have the country on full military alert, with warships and drone aircraft deployed along with tens of thousands of military and police personnel. Competition begins Thursday (February 6), with men’s figure skating, women’s moguls and men’s snowboarding – the first time Winter Olympics competition has started before the opening ceremonies, which are Friday, February 7. Activists plan to picket outside the Russian consulate, 2790 Green Street in San Francisco from noon to 1 p.m. Friday. Team San Francisco will sponsor a “virtual Pride House,” one of many around the world, at HiTops bar, 2247 Market Street, during the opening ceremonies, while sign-waving is expected at Harvey Milk Plaza beginning at 5 p.m. A rally is planned for Saturday, February 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at UN Plaza, organized by the Freedom Socialist Party. Also that Saturday, the quadrennial Rainbow Run, which takes place in the cities that have hosted previous Gay Games, will begin at 9:15 a.m. at Stow Lake and run through Golden Gate Park, with a stop at the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Several of the participants plan to continue the run to the rally at UN Plaza. Earlier this week, the Commonwealth Club held a discussion entitled “From Russia Without Love: The 2014 Winter Olympics and Human Rights in Russia.” Such demonstrations and discussions would not be allowed in Russia, where reports of unprosecuted gay-bashing are on the rise. Last year, Russia passed a law outlawing any “propaganda” of “non-traditional sexual relationSee page 13 >>
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