Olympic-sized apathy

We will all celebrate global cooperation and humanity in its purest form this winter in a country that fines and even puts people in jail for spreading gay “propaganda.”  

It’s the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Oh yeah, and the law that enforces the banning of gay “propaganda” wasn’t passed a hundred years ago. It was passed this summer.

Violence at pride festivals and even more abhorrent acts, including forcing gay youth to drink urine, are becoming commonplace in a country that’s made its stance clearly against equal rights for all.

But then again, Russian President Vladimir Putin has a different definition of “equal” than I.

At least that’s what I got from the closer of his recent op-ed in the New York Times.

“We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal,” Putin wrote.

I thought the big news these days was which state was going to enact gay marriage next, not which country is making it illegal to simply be born the way you are.

Last week, ThePostGame released an interview with Michelle Kwan, highly decorated Olympic veteran figure skater, who, this year, is going to Russia as an analyst for Fox Sports.

When asked about how she dealt with political controversies in previous Olympics, Kwan said, “You leave it up to the people who are policy people.”
A frustratingly naïve and self-centered response.

So it turns out Kwan doesn’t really care about what’s going on. She doesn’t care that she has a voice that can truly influence positive change, because she’ll seemingly sacrifice that privilege on a dime because it’s what’s most likely politically correct.

But it’s unfair of me to pin this all on Kwan. She’s not even competing this year.

Allow me to be an illogical romantic for a moment.

Imagine if all our nation’s athletes refused to compete in a country that supports legally punishing people for their sexuality. A country that ignores violence against gays, heinous and public as it may be.

That would tell the public what Russia is doing is truly evil. That this is the 21st century, and we simply won’t stand for that. That Americans have morals, and we’ll uphold them, regardless of the sacrifice.

Imagine the positive message that would send to all our young athletes.

Imagine if all the major media corporations refused to support this circus of hatred.

What if they blacked out all coverage of the Olympics because, well, why glorify a nation that so heinously turns a blind eye to basic human rights?

Back to Earth.

Back to the general silence and apathy of both the media and the athletes.

Back to the here and now, where the prize of medals and fame and advertising revenue is too high to bear the cost of standing up for human dignity.

­— ihajinaz@umail.iu.edu
Follow columnist Ike Hajinazarian on Twitter @_IkeHaji.