Mayor of Olympics city Sochi: ‘We do not have gays here’
By Josh Haggis
The major of Winter Olympics host city Sochi has claimed that there are no homosexuals among its 350,000-strong population.
According to the BBC, Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov told reporters that Sochi will welcome everyone “who respects the laws of the Russian Federation and doesn’t impose their habits on others”.
When asked whether Sochi’s gay inhabitants are forced to keep their sexuality a secret, Mayor Pakhomov replied: “No, we just say that it is your business, it’s your life. But it’s not accepted here in the Caucasus where we live. We do not have them in our city.”
A reporter who challenged Mayor Pakhomov about the lack of gays in Sochi was met with the response: “I am not sure, but I don’t bloody know them!”
However, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov quickly heaped scorn on Mayor Pakhomov’s claims. “As far as I know there are several gay clubs in Sochi. How do they survive? Why they are not bankrupt?” he told reporters.
In June 2013, Russia passed laws banning the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations”, and there has been an increasingly hostile atmosphere towards the country’s LGBT community.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said gays visiting Russia for next month’s Sochi Olympics have nothing to worry about – provided they “leave children in peace”.
The Sochi Olympics begin on February 7 and run until February 23. US President Barack Obama is aiming to showcase “diversity” at the games by sending an Olympic delegation including several openly gay sports stars – among them, six-times Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King.