News
Russia to enforce anti-gay law during Olympics
Vladimir Putin signed gay propaganda ban in June
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo public domain)
“The Interior Ministry of Russia during the Olympic games, as well as at any other time, will operate under Russian law in general and in particular on the law protecting children from the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations,” the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement posted to its website in Russian. “Law enforcement measures will be applied in accordance to Russian law to people carrying out such activities.”
The statement comes nearly two weeks after the International Olympic Committee said it had “received assurances” from the highest levels of the Russian government that the broadly worded law that President Vladimir Putin signed in June would not impact athletes who plan to compete in the games and those who will travel to Sochi for them.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told a Russian sports website earlier this month the gay propaganda law would apply to those who travel to the Olympics. He told reporters during a Moscow press conference on August 8 that those who continue to criticize the statute need to “calm down.”
Outrage over Russia’s LGBT rights record continues to grow amid calls to boycott the Sochi games.
Gay New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup last month announced he will wear a Pride pin during the Olympics. Figure skater Johnny Weir, whose husband is of Russian descent, told CBS News in an interview posted to its website on August 9 that he is “not afraid of being arrested” while in Sochi.
“If it takes me getting arrested for people to pay attention and for people to lobby against this law, then I’m willing to take it,” Weir said.
President Obama told Jay Leno during an appearance on “The Tonight Show” on August 6 that he has “no patience” for countries in which anti-LGBT laws remain on the books. The White House the following day cited Russia’s LGBT rights record as among the reasons that prompted Obama to cancel a meeting with Putin that had been scheduled to take place in Moscow before next month’s G-20 summit in St. Petersburg.
“One of the things I’m really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we’re seeing there,” Obama said during a White House press conference on August 9. “If Russia doesn’t have gay or lesbian athletes, then that would probably make their team weaker.”
The Russian Interior Ministry stressed in its statement that those who do not violate the gay propaganda law will be able to “take part in the Olympics peacefully” as the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on its website. It also took issue with those who continue to criticize Russia over its LGBT rights record.
“The criticisms concerning the violation of the rights of gay [people,] preventing them from taking part in the Olympics, discrimination [against] athletes and Olympic guests on the grounds of sexual orientation are completely baseless and far-fetched,” the Russian Interior Ministry said. “We consider them only as an attempt to undermine the credibility of the upcoming Olympic games in Sochi.”
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’
Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences,” said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw
School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ‘warmth, humor, kindness’
Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.
Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.
“Patrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,” Martinez said. “He was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.”
In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.
“Patrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,” his colleagues said in their posting. “His daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.”
The posted message adds, “Patrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.”
The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon.
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