Stephen Fry joined hundreds today in London to protest Vladimir Putin‘s dangerous war on Russia’s gay people and anti-gay laws, and to highlight the dangers LGBT Olympic athletes and allies will face if they attend the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Today Fry “protested on the issue, along with hundreds of others, outside Downing Street,” The Independent reports on Fry’s comments today about the crisis in Russia:
He told reporters: “What they have done is unleashed thugs who have done unspeakable things to teenagers, lured them, beaten them, humiliated them, tortured them. This continues to be the case.
“Lesbians have been raped ‘correctively’ – as the horrible phrase is. The police are doing nothing about it.
“The fact that the law says it is illegal to discuss homosexuality as a normal practice to anybody under the age of 18 is a preposterous thing.”
Fry is considered a British national treasure, and this week wrote “An Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC,†in which he compared Putin’s war on gays to Hitler’s war on Jews, and called for an “absolute ban” on the Olympics in Russia, demanding the 2014 Olympic Winter Games be moved.
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Prime Minister David Cameron responded today to Fry, via Twitter:
1/2 Thank you for your note @stephenfry. I share your deep concern about the abuse of gay people in Russia…
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) August 10, 2013
2/2 @stephenfry However, I believe we can better challenge prejudice as we attend, rather than boycotting the Winter Olympics. DC
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) August 10, 2013
Photos and video from today’s protest in London:
Related:
IOC Slammed With 322,000 Petitions Demanding They Condemn Russia’s Anti-Gay Laws (Video)
Think You Know What’s Going On In Russia? 20 Shocking Reports Show Anti-Gay Hate Exploding
Vladimir Putin Just Made It Illegal To Tell Kids Gay People Exist
Image, top, by Josephine Shaw via Twitter