The price of tolerating Russia's intolerance?

A most interesting opinion piece in the New York Times. Obviously the author, Harvey Fierstein, knows rather a lot more about this subject than I do from my humble abode in Sydney. I haven't heard of this before, possibly an even worse crackdown on gays than anyone could have imagined:

Finally, it is rumored that Mr. Putin is about to sign an edict that would remove children from their own families if the parents are either gay or lesbian or suspected of being gay or lesbian. The police would have the authority to remove children from adoptive homes as well as from their own biological parents. more

I sincerely hope this is just a rumour.....

But now the calls for a boycott of the Sochi Russian Olympics are gaining strength. Fierstein sums it up thus: 

Nevertheless, the rest of the world remains almost completely ignorant of Mr. Putin’s agenda. His adoption restrictions have received some attention, but it has been largely limited to people involved in international adoptions. 

This must change. With Russia about to hold the Winter Games in Sochi, the country is open to pressure. American and world leaders must speak out against Mr. Putin’s attacks and the violence they foster. The Olympic Committee must demand the retraction of these laws under threat of boycott. 

In 1936 the world attended the Olympics in Germany. Few participants said a word about Hitler’s campaign against the Jews. Supporters of that decision point proudly to the triumph of Jesse Owens, while I point with dread to the Holocaust and world war. There is a price for tolerating intolerance. more