Gay rights groups pressure sponsors of Winter Games in Sochi, Russia
Gay rights activists say they are stepping up pressure on Olympic sponsors as the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, approaches.
Gay rights activists say they are stepping up pressure on Olympic sponsors as the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, approaches.
Human Rights Watch and some of its allies say they are dissatisfied with the response of major sponsors like Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa to requests to condemn Russia's ban on "gay propaganda".
"It's taken months for the sponsors to formulate lawyerly responses that say nothing," said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. "We're going to work hard between now and Sochi to not let them off the hook."
McDonald's says it believes the Olympics should be open to all and Visa says it has discussed the issue with the International Olympic Committee. Coca-Cola says it does not "condone intolerance or discrimination of any kind anywhere in the world".
The focus of the protests is a law passed with near unanimous support by Russian lawmakers and signed by President Vladimir Putin in June.
It bans the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" and imposes fines for providing information about the gay community to minors.
