As well as the very necessary hard line fight that is needed in the lead up to the Games and likely for some time afterwards, there is also another softer angle.
REACH OUT to your community
We need to win the hearts and minds of people at home and in our communities to support these initiatives. The more folks who’s attention we bring the plight of the millions of Russian’s the more effective our efforts will be. So talk about it with your friends, family and work colleges. Share the information on this site, and encourage them to support any of this initiative here. Every little helps.
REACH OUT to Advocates
We can reach out to gay advocates and get them to join the chorus of already many influential community members. Stephen Fry, George Takei Madonna, Lady Gaga and Hugh Laurie have been particularly vocal and supportive of the Russian LGBT community. But certainly more could be done by many prominent gay and left leaning personalities. These people should be encouraged to talk about what’s going on in Russia. If you are a fan of Oprah, Ellen Degenres, Ben Cohen or whomever, reach out to them and encourage them to use their platform to bring attention to this issue.
REACH OUT to Olympic Athletes
The Athletes have trained their entire lives for this day. The day that they get to represent their country in the pinnacle of sporting excellence. Let them know that that aspiration can be achieved in conjunction with upholding the basic human rights and dignity of the citizens of the country that they are being hosted by. Reach out to your favourite athlete. Let them know how important this issue is to you. Encourage them to gain the courage to make a stand against systematic and state and olympic sanctioned homophobia. They are more than anyone, in a position to make a stand and make a statement to the world about what is right.