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IOC president: Olympic values oppose discrimination

Thomas Bach made comments before lighting of Olympic torch in Greece

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Athlete Ally, All Out, IOC, International Olympic Committee, Russia, Sochi, gay news, Washington Blade

Athlete Ally, All Out, IOC, International Olympic Committee, Russia, Sochi, gay news, Washington Blade

Members of All Out and Athlete Ally on August 7 presented a petition with more than 300,000 signatures to the International Olympic Committee that urges it to pressure Russia to end its gay crackdown. (Photo courtesy of All Out)

International Olympic Commission President Thomas Bach on Sunday stressed Olympic values include “respect without any form of discrimination.”

“The flame lit today by the Greek sun takes on this responsibility for a peaceful celebration here and now; the torches will carry it into the Olympic future,” Bach said in a speech he delivered before the lighting of the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia, Greece. “Thus the Olympic Torch Relay will be a messenger for the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect without any form of discrimination.”

Russian National Olympic Committee President Vitaly Smirnov, 2014 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko and Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov are among those who attended the ceremony. The torch will travel across Russia before it arrives in Sochi for the start of the games on February 7.

“The Olympic message sees the global diversity of cultures, societies and life choices as a source of enrichment,” Bach said. “It accuses no one and it excludes no one. But it does require us all to defend and uphold the Olympic values in all the sports competitions; among all those taking part and at all the Olympic venues.”

“Only then can we use our positive message of tolerance and respect through fair play in sport to set an example for the harmonious development of humanity,” he added.

Bach’s comments come against the backdrop of growing outrage over Russia’s LGBT rights record that threatens to overshadow the Sochi games.

Actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein is among those who have called for a boycott of the Olympics. Author Dan Savage, Cleve Jones and other LGBT rights advocates have called for a boycott of Russian vodka.

Members of Queer Nation NY on September 23 interrupted the Metropolitan Opera’s opening night gala to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government’s LGBT rights record that includes a law that bans gay propaganda to minors. They also targeted soprano Anna Netrebko and conductor Valery Gergiev for supporting Putin.

LGBT rights advocates in the U.S. and around the world last week expressed outrage over IOC Coordination Commission Chair Jean-Claude Killy’s comments over Russia’s gay propaganda law.

The Associated Press initially reported that Killy said during a Sochi press conference the IOC is “fully satisfied” the statute does not violate the Olympic Charter. An IOC spokesperson later told the Washington Blade that Killy said “as long as the Olympic Charter is respected, we are satisfied.”

“That is clearly not expressing any view on the law itself,” the Olympic body said. “Mr. Killy made it abundantly clear that the IOC never comments on national legislation.”

The Human Rights Campaign and COC Nederland, a Dutch LGBT advocacy group, are among the organizations that blasted Killy and the IOC.

Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs last week acknowledged during an interview with the news agency EFE that he shares LGBT advocates’ concerns over Russia’s gay propaganda law. He stressed, however, the Olympic body does not comment on any specific statute in a host country.

“The Olympic Charter is against any type of discrimination, and this includes without a doubt sexual orientation,” Samaranch told EFE. “I understand and share how the gay community may be concerned, but it is too harsh to ask us as the IOC to try and modify the laws of a country.”

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World Pride 2025

D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride

Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours

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Sasha Colby performs at Pitchers in 2023. Liquor-serving establishments in D.C. will be able to remain open for 24 hours during WorldPride. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.

In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.

Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.

According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.

The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.

Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.

At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.

It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.

Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.

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The Vatican

Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave

Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023

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DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke, middle, greets Pope Francis in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Marianne Duddy-Burke)

The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.

DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”

“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.

Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.

The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.

Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.

Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”

“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.

“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”

“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.

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World Pride 2025

Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference

Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon

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The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde. (Screen capture via PBS NewsHour/YouTube)

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.

Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)

A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.

The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.

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