Quote Originally Posted by Deborski View Post
The difference between chewing gum in Singapore, or talking about politics in Northern Ireland, or not wearing a burkha in a Muslim country versus not "making a homosexual manifestation in Russia" - is that the first three examples are behaviors which one can choose to refrain from. Being gay is not a behavior, it is an identity.
Yes, but haven't you checked what the law is about?
It's NOT outlawing actually BEING homosexual, having homosexual relations or going to gay bars..

It's some specific acts that it is referring to, that anybody gay or straight, could refrain from doing.

Just like I can go to Lebanon and refrain from wearing shorts and a tank top, or go to Germany and refrain from constantly bring up the war. Or in the case of Russia; refrain from making a gay manifestation even if I happened to be gay.

A Swedish female athlete competed in Russia today and had a rainbow manicure which she showed off after she jumped. Nothing, of course, happened.

However Elena Isinbayeva, the Russian gold medalist said it was insensitive and showing a lack of respect for her country.

I agree that if it was illegal to actually BE gay, then that would be wrong, since gay people for the most part cannot change.

The article goes on to explain that Rusisan lawmakers essentially don't care about foreign views on this as they are trying to please their own "deeply conservative" public about this, and the law is reflecting public opinion in Russia.

So why would we respect public opinion when we visit North Africa, Northern Ireland and lots of other countries that have quirks.... but not Russia?

Take the example of Saudi Arabia where all women visting or working there (my sister did, for example) are forced to wrap themselves up in full moslem gear. She didn't like it, but she had chosen to work there and was aware that any other form of dress would have been offensive and against the law. That is a much more radical example of a country that is very rarely critisized. The Russian law is not forcing people to wear special clothing or anything dramatic like that; nor is it meddling in people's private lives, only in how they behave in public.