Much like in the Qatar thread I would like to stick to what is relevant to Russia 2018 and its visitors. Not an ideological discussion on sexual orientation.
I think the reaction to the law in Russia was a bit extreme. It hasn't really changed anything. The government continues to tolerate right wing conservative groups who attack minorities, both ethnic and sexual, but there is no concentrated effort to arrest homosexuals. When I advise people about traveling to Russia, I am much more concerned for people of African or Asian descent than I am for homosexuals.
There was actually a spike in anti-gay violence right after the law was put into place... Do you even know what laws we are talking about?
Okay, I'm calling a halt to this nonsense right now. Thread closed until I've got a chance to clean it up.
Okay I've deleted a discussion focusing on the nature of human sexuality, because it's off topic. It will be deleted again if it's revived here. Furthermore, those of you out there who wish to compare entire populations of human beings to felons need to find another site to do it. That's not acceptable here, nor is hate speech of any other kind.
Yay... so let's have a thread where we don't talk about one of the main issues that affects the WC being held in Russia. Thanks for the clean up!
I fail to see how eliminating a debate about the nature of human sexuality in general from a thread devoted to the 2018 World Cup does what you are claiming. Discussion of human rights, with specific reference to Russia's policies about gays, as it pertains to the World Cup should be, and is, fair game. But we're not going to get into who gays "are" and what "they" want.
It is not just about gay rights. The issue with Ukraine is not going away. I do not understand why it is not discussed. I can live with the situation in Crimea, but Eastern Ukraine is getting too much. It will get worst.
if Putin turns into an invading zealot like Hitler, and FIFA holds WC 2018 in Russia, how will it be any different from the shame of participating in the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
My friend, whose parents live in Croatia, says they are very worried over there by Putin's statements that the USSR should not have fallen apart. I guess my real question is, if Putin continues to invade by subterfuge, will FIFA step up, or not?
I am not going to go too deep in politics. I find it funny why we are only allowed to discuss gay rights here when there is a crisis in Ukraine now.
What would you advise FIFA to do? Cancel WC 2018 entirely or allocate it to another country on short notice? If you'd want to move it, I kinda fail to see which countries would be ready that are not involved in the crisis in Russia?
I believe FIFA always has a backup plan where they can move the WC to England or Germany on short notice. I'm not sure what you mean by saying most countries are involved in the crisis already. If Putin gets more aggressive e.g., by openly using the military, I definitely hope FIFA takes a stand and moves the WC out of Russia. Of course, FIFA tries to stay out of politics by saying that they only take action against countries who impede soccer decisions and interfere with FIFA governance. But I would hope they would take a stand against imperialism.
Russia would have to be unsafe for fans and officials to visit and or become a pariah state on the level of North Korea for FIFA to withdraw the World Cup.
Russia is not a safe place right now for people of African and Asia descent. The widespread racism along with the violence associated with that racism is out of control. Plus the police are either ignore these attacks, sympathize with it or cooperate with the nazi skinhead subculture which is strong I'm Russia at the moment
Eh that's a bit of an over simplification. Touristy districts and sites are perfectly safe and the police are going to stop anything from happening at those locations. It's the long term residents who live in the suburbs that should be concerned.
Then why did my friend from Ghana go their recently to st.peterburgh And while on the metro got the shit kicked out of him by a mob of young thugs because he was black? The whole time shouting monkey, ape, n-word, Heil Hitler, long live mother Russia the irony. Then he reported it to police they said they could do nothing about it because a) it was his fault traveling alone and b) it was not a hate crime because their true intentions could not be known while giving the beating. Now I'm not saying Russians are evil or Russia is the reincarnation of nazi Germany. Hate crimes happen everywhere including here. However the violence and specifically the skinhead nazi violence in Russia and the authorities turning the blind eye and feeding Russian nationalism to fit there own agenda is troubling.
Well I guess that one anecdotal story is pretty much all the evidence needed for FIFA to move the tournament.