I am boycotting the winter Olympics this year. No, I am not adverse to watching sporting events. But its hard not to recoil in disgust when it comes to Russia. Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he is not in support of the LGBT community. Putin's government has taken the additional unnecessary step of fostering an environment that is not only dangerous to the gay community, but has also outlawed "gay propaganda" and pride parades. Those who voice opposition risk finding themselves imprisoned.
As if this were not bad enough, the Russian government did some housekeeping of sorts before the games began: because so many locals were driven from their homes to build the facilities for the games, there were an unusual number of abandoned dogs left behind. Did the Russian equivalent of animal control come around and take the homeless pets to a shelter? No. Instead, they shot them.
I'd hoped that in light of Putin's anti-gay policies, the U.S. would pull out of the games altogether. But apparently one must invade a country for our nation to get angered enough to keep our athletes at home. Too bad. It might have sent a cogent message; one more so than the one we sent instead.
