# Would you visit the Sochi olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282 "2014-01-20T17:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/101 "2014-02-16T13:19:35Z")
I wouldn’t set foot in Russia at all. Totally Third World. Not ready for prime time and I don’t know if it will ever be. ---
**Author:** ![Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pidril_Pidrilych)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/102 "2014-02-23T15:04:29Z")
> [@Arabella\_Flynn](#): > > [Johnny Weir - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_weir) > > Weir is a figure skater who is infamous mainly for being very blatantly, publicly gay (intentionally, he thinks playing to some of the stereotypes is fun), but refusing to answer any questions about his sexuality on the grounds that they were rude and had nothing to do with skating. He was hounded about “coming out” for years before he finally did so explicitly in a memoir after his second Olympics. He’s now a rather vocal part of the GLBT community who has expressed, in so many words, a willingness to get himself arrested on behalf of the GLBT community in Russia, if it comes to that. The penalty for non-Russian citizens for breaking the law against propaganda et al is arrest, detention for up to 15 days, and deportation. Last I checked, he wasn’t even positive they’d give him a visa anymore. Has Johnny Weir made any public statements after being deported from Russia? ---
**Author:** ![Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pidril_Pidrilych)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/103 "2014-02-23T16:20:50Z")
I’m sorry, I misread the post I was replying to (and can’t find an option to edit my own post? ). It appears Johnny hasn’t been deported from Russia (as of yet). Nevertheless, what is the total number of LGBT activists deported from Sochi? ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/104 "2014-02-24T17:19:55Z")
None that I am aware of. The Russians indicated they weren’t going to bother anyone who wasn’t specifically making themselves a nuisance, and it appears they kept their word, at least in re: the Olympic Village. Weir flew home to New York not long ago, having apparently had a wonderful time. It may have been a case of “we can’t deport everyone”. A significant portion of the people there expressed their support for the GLBT community in Russia, and indicated that they thought the law was wrong. Rainbows were suspiciously fashionable – Germany’s team and the International Olympic Committee independently distributed completely different rainbow tracksuits to their personnel as the official uniform. The Russian Federation’s own Olympic Committee chose t.A.T.u. as the entertainment for the opening ceremonies, a female pop duo famous mainly for singing a lot of songs about lesbians and snogging each other during live performances. All in all, it went about a million times better than anyone had hoped. The main bit of world news to come out of skating was that Russia’s only men’s singles entrant had to withdraw due to injury. ---
**Author:** ![Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pidril_Pidrilych)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/105 "2014-02-25T02:50:35Z")
> [@Arabella\_Flynn](#): > > None that I am aware of. I see. Well, who won the betting pool, then? The one with bets on how long it’d take Russians to deport Weir? ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/106 "2014-02-25T06:08:19Z")
> [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](#): > > I see. Well, who won the betting pool, then? The human race. I generally expect these things to go terribly in some newsworthy manner. I’m happy to be wrong when they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pidril_Pidrilych)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/107 "2014-02-25T12:09:08Z")
> [@Arabella\_Flynn](#): > > The human race I disagree. The human race lost, and lost quite decisively here. We had hundreds (maybe even thousands) of LGBT activists from all over the world ready to protest the daily torture, execution and outright murder of LGBT people in Russia, and for the Russians to turn the tables on them and to refuse to do all these horrible things during the Olympics… Just when one thinks the humanity can’t sink any lower… ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/108 "2014-02-25T12:40:54Z")
I was quite happy to be proven wrong, there was no terror attack. Still, I’m glad I didn’t go, not that I ever remotely entertained the idea. Putin is a thug, and I wouldn’t want to give his regime any financial benefit of my tourism. ---
**Author:** ![Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Pidril\_Pidrilych](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pidril_Pidrilych)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282/109 "2014-02-26T00:49:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I was quite happy to be proven wrong, there was no terror attack. Don’t be so harsh on yourself. Your prediction > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Something big is going to go down. Those terrorists have had since the site was announced to stash weapons and bombs in the area, long before the Russians secured it. Sure, they can’t get in now, but the bad guys are probably already in place. was right on the money, except the fact it was completely wrong. But it’s not your fault: unfortunately, the reality seems to have an inexplicable (at least to me) and quite persistent dislike for LibDems. Fear not, though: the next big sporting event Russia is going to host will be even bigger than Winter Olympics: 2018 World Soccer Cup. Let’s get another betting pool started straight away, concerning the number of terrorist attacks and LGBT deportations during the Cup… And this time, I dare…nay, double-dare, the reality to interfere with our ideas… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-visit-the-sochi-olympics/679282.md?page=5)