11:49, 28 January 2014

IOC President: Sochi Olympics will see no discrimination of sexual minorities

Poster against homophobia at the rally with an appeal to boycott Sochi Olympic Games. Berlin, August 31, 2013. Photo: Adam Groffmann, http://www.flickr.com/

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has stated that during the Winter Olympics in Sochi members of sexual minorities, whether guests or athletes, will face no discrimination. An LGBT activist Nikolai Alekseev is also sure that the Olympics will pass without any scandals of homosexual nature.

The "Caucasian Knot" has noted that after the statement made by the Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov about the absence of gays in the capital of the 2014 Games, a number of members of sexual minorities said that the city has several clubs, where people of non-traditional sexual orientation can meet; and they hope that their rights will not be impaired during the Olympics.

Their position is shared by the IOC President Thomas Bach, who noted during a telephone press conference in Lausanne that the position of the IOC on this issue is quite clear.

In his turn, Nikolai Alekseev, the "GayRussia" project manager, said in his interview with the "Kommersant" that "there will be plenty of gays in Sochi during the Olympic Games, because a number of sports delegations, who will come to take part in the competitions, have athletes of homosexual orientation."