BUS 449 Post 20

Dear Reader,

This is my last post for this class assignment. I want to thank you for sticking with me all these weeks and paying attention to what I wanted to say for a long time. I was always afraid to talk about such issues with others because I thought that nobody would accept and respect such ideas. Thank you very much, reader, for your patience and willingness to listen. I hope that my blog showed you more insights about the issue and taught you about tolerance and respect. I wanted to make sure that you understand that Love is Love and you can do nothing about it. Love has no borders, no limits, and no conditions. It is very sad that people are misunderstood and are judged upon simply because they do not fit with the “traditional” (I hate this word) image.

The more I wrote about this topic the more I understood that there is still a very long way till we can achieve this ideal world where people are treated equally and human rights are universally respected. However, I also see that it gets better; we just need to keep going and continue fighting.

Dear reader, I want to wish you all the best in your life. Be honest to yourself and be open-minded. Don’t let others ruin your individuality by imposing artificial norms on you. Learn to accept yourself no matter who you are: boy or girl, straight of gay, or maybe all of the above.

Sincerely,

Rita.

BUS 449 Post 19

Dear Reader,

My blog assignment is almost over and this time I want to share with you names of very brave people who were not afraid to step out of their closets. More than that, they are all celebrities who are always surrounded by the media attention. Such step that they all have made shows not only an act of bravery but also as an act of support that provides hope for all those people who are not yet brave enough to do the same or who feel oppressed by the society. They also send a very powerful message to young adults who are horrified by the idea about their true gender identity. Those brave celebrities are trying to reach those people and tell them that it gets better.

I am sure that you know most of the names I am going to mention but you might not know that they identify themselves as not 100% straight.

Ellen DeGeneres

Ian McKellan

Neil Patrich Harris

Ellen Page

Cynthia Nixon

Jim Parsons

Kristian Nairn

Jodie Foster

This list can go forever. I just wanted to share with you my personal heroes. 

BUS 449 Post 18

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

Dear Reader,

In less than two month the law allowing same-sex marriage will go into effect in the Illinois. The bill was passed in November last year but couples will be able to register their marriage only starting from June 1. This way, Illinois is the 16^th state in the USA to legalize gay marriage.

Nevertheless, according to U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, marriage license can be issued before that date if one of the partners has life-threatening illness. She said that waiting until June to get marry “violates the couples' rights to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution”.

Cook County Clerk David Orr received numerous requests and was sued by gay couples for the right to register their marriage before June 1. In response he showed his support and said that his office in Chicago will start issuing licenses for gay couples. However, Cook is the only county in the state that registers same-sex couples so far, which doesn’t seem fair for residents of other parts of the state.

For now the situation doesn’t change, Chicago is the only place in the Illinois county where gay couples can get married. Otherwise, they have to wait till June 1 when the law will come into effect.

BUS 449 Post 17

Norman Lamb

Dear Reader,

Great Britain once again brings promising news for the LGBT community. Health Minister of Britain Norman Lamb, after being addressed by 15 MPs from different political parties, demanded the assurance from the National Health Service (NHS) England that General Practitioners stop provide any referrals for gay conversion therapy. He says that such treatment has no place in the modern society, therefore, should be eliminated. “It is based on the completely false premise that there is something wrong with you if you happen to be gay,” he said. “I certainly want to do what I can, as a Liberal Democrat, to eradicate this.”

Here are some statistical facts from the 2009 survey, where mental health professionals found that more than 200 out of 1300 doctors had tried to help at least one client to reduce the attraction they felt for somebody of the same sex. A third (35%) were said to have been referred for therapy by a GP and 40% of those were reportedly treated within the NHS.

The Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert commented on the issue: “In the 21st century, no lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual should be accessing this kind of voodoo psychology. Instead we should be providing services which help give them confidence and support them with their sexuality.”

The Labor MP Sandra Osborne said: “Conversion therapy is a very real and present danger in Britain. More than just a problem amongst religious fundamentalists, it's an issue for the NHS and professional sector, and this isn't a simplistic debate about freedom to choose: if LGBT patients are coaxed into undertaking therapy by peer pressure or referred on to conversion therapists after approaching professionals, then this is hardly a 'free choice' at all.”

Indeed, Britain has been setting a good example for gender equality for a very long time. I hope more countries will follow such example and eliminate their biases. Here is the link to the article, is you are interested about the topic.

BUS 449 Post 16

Brendan Eich

Dear Reader,

You probably have heard about Mozilla’s CEO Brendan Eich stepping down from his position on April 3. The reason behind is his support and $1000 donation to Proposition 8 initiative in California that opposes the same-sex marriage.

Eich was appointed as CEO in March but was forced to resign after being criticized and boycotted. The first to react was dating site OK Cupid that blocked access to its website for users who used Mozilla Firefox browser. Also, numerous Mozilla’s employees tweeted about the issue disapproving Eich’s views and demanding his resignation. (Here are some examples of angry tweets.)

The general message was that Mozilla failed to live up to its principles of inclusiveness. Executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker wrote: “We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves”.

However, Eich resignation has caused fierce debates about the rightfulness of the decision. Many doubt whether it is just to boycott the company over Eich’s personal beliefs. Also some say that CEO’s personal beliefs should not interfere with his work. There were numerous angry tweets such as: 

“Congrats @mozilla your intolerance ran off a guy who's work is ubiquitous & revolutionary. You must be proud to be such bullies. #ILikeEich”.

I personally do not know the right answer to this issue. I guess it is a good example for Prof. White’s Business Ethics class.

BUS 449 Post 15

Dear Reader,

This time I want to introduce you a very brave woman Alice Nkom. She is a lawyer form Cameroon who, despite numerous death threats, actively promotes gay rights and defends people accused of practicing homosexuality. (Cameroon is a country where same-sex relations are illegal and can cause a five-years imprisonment.)

On March 18 Nkom was awarded Amnesty International's Human Rights Award for 2014 for the work she has been doing defending men and women sitting in prison because of their sexual orientation. She described the award as a “prize of hope”. “This gives me a voice that can get heard everywhere,” she said.

“Being gay in Cameroon is like being in hell. Permanent jail, permanent harassment, permanent violence and discrimination. From your family to the workplace to everywhere. I wanted to add this human rights dimension to my work because I'm just like a mother. When you have two kids who are different and one of them is vulnerable, you have to take care. You have to love them. You have to help them.”

To give you an idea about the situation, here is an excerpt from Human Rights Watch report:

“Many gays in Cameroon are imprisoned for years on the basis of trivial evidence: a neighbour’s complaint, a brief text message, even an allegedly “feminine” taste in liqueurs. Some are arrested “solely on the basis of rumour”. Police often use torture or abuse to extract confessions from them.

Innocent people are framed, spied upon by neighbors, subjected to extortion and bribery, beaten by police and gendarme, humiliated with flawed anal examinations, raped in custody, disowned by parents as a result of arrest, and emotionally scarred by traumatic encounters with law enforcement – all in the name of justice.”

Alice Nkom is 69 years old, which it more than the retirement age but she actively works and represents jailed homosexuals. I truly wish we have more brave and dedicated people like Alice Nkom.

BUS 449 Post 14

Dear Reader,

Yesterday was a big day for many British citizens – it was the first day same-sex marriage could be registered. Even though the legislation passed last year, in England and Wales, March 29 was the first date couples could officially get married. In Scotland, same-sex marriages can be registered in October but Northern Ireland is not even planning to introduce the legislation.

David Cameron wrote an article for the Pink News website where he states: “This is something that has been very important to me. […] That is not something that the State should ever deny someone on the basis of their sexuality. When people’s love is divided by law, it is the law that needs to change.” He also said that the law sends a message to young teenagers who are not sure about their sexual identity; it gives them this feeling that everybody is equal whether you are straight or gay.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "If our change to the law means a single young man or young woman who wants to come out, but who is scared of what the world will say, now feels safer, stronger, taller - well, for me, getting into coalition government will have been worth it just for that."

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza were one of the first couples to get married on that day. In his interview he said: "Very few countries afford their gay and lesbian citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this change in law will bring hope and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalized for their sexual orientation."

Even though some religious groups still oppose the legislation, an archbishop of the Church of England said that: “the law's changed; we accept the situation”. At the same time the legislation prohibits the Church of England from registering same-sex marriages, they can only be registered by the state.

Here you can find more information on this topic.

BUS 449 Post 13

Dear Reader,

I want to introduce you to Ivan Okhlobystin, a Russian actor and an ex-priest. Besides starring in the Russian version of “Scrubs” he is also famous for his homophobic statements and the open letter to Putin asking for reintroduction of criminal prosecution laws against homosexuals.

In December 2013 he made a statement:

"I would have them all stuffed alive inside an oven. This is Sodom and Gomorrah, as a believer, I cannot remain indifferent to this, it is a living danger to my children!" I don't want my children thinking that being a faggot is normal. This is gay fascism! If a man cannot choose an appropriate person of the opposite sex for reproduction - that is a clear sign of mental abnormality, then he needs to be deprived of that right to choose."

Later on Twitter (https://twitter.com/PsykerO1477) he confirmed his statement defending himself by saying that "Everyone has the right to express their opinions."

One month later he wrote the open letter asking the president to reintroduce the law from the Soviet criminal code. He said that anti-propaganda law is not effective enough and Russia needs stricter measures in order to eliminate homosexuality from the eyes of public. (For those of you who speak Russian –you can find an open letter here.) Okhlobystin also suggests that a national referendum is necessary in order to address this issue and establish the criminal punishment for homosexuality.

BUS 449 Post 12

Dear Reader,

Today I want to tell you about the hidden gem of the South America – Uruguay. The country where homosexuality is legal since 1934, same-sex marriage is legalized (2013) and child adoption is allowed. More than that, there are anti-homophobia and anti-discrimination laws present since 2003 and gay people are allowed to serve in the military starting from 2009.

Uruguay is one of the most liberal countries in the South America. It is the first country which allowed gay people to adopt children. Despite a fierce opposition of the Roman Catholic Church, religion plays a minor role in this secular country so the law was passed without major obstacles. Uruguay President Jose Mujica pushed series of liberal reforms which are supported by the general public. In his interview he said: “We apply a simple principle: To recognize the facts. Abortion is as old as the world… Gay marriage, please, it’s older than the world. We had Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great. They say it is modern and it's older than all of us. It is an objective reality. It exists. Not to legalize it would be unnecessary torture for some people.”

His other reforms include legalization of abortion (2012) and marijuana (2013).

BUS 449 Post 11

Dear Reader,

I hope you had a chance to watch the Disney’s “Frozen”. I personally fell in love with this beautiful movie, especially with its songs. However, not everyone was touched, the right-wing conservatives in particular. To them, the movie that got two Oscars is a part of conspiracy to turn children gay. Fundamentalist Christian minister Kevin Swanson made this claim even though he failed to provide any evidence. "How many Christians are taking their kids off to see the movie 'Frozen,' produced by an organization that is probably one of the most pro-homosexual organizations in the country?" – he asked on the radio show. “You wonder sometimes, I’m not a tinfoil hat conspiratorialist, but you wonder sometimes if maybe there’s something very evil happening here. If I was the devil, what would I do to really foul up an entire social system and do something really, really, really evil to 5- and 6- and 7-year-olds in Christian families around America? … I would buy Disney.”

Believe it or not, such claims found their audience and popularity among people. In her blog “A Well-Behaved Mormon Woman” Kathryn Skaggs wrote a huge post “Frozen: Not Gonna "Let It Go" When Movie Advocates Gay Agenda” claiming that Elsa’s magical power is a metaphor for homosexuality. Here you can find her explanation of the “evil” movie but if you ask me it is just a piece of paranoid nonsense. However, it makes it crystal clear that people who support such absurd claim try everything to demonize LGBT people.

BUS 449 Post 10

Dear Reader,

Welcome back from a week break! I hope you enjoyed it. I decided to go on vacation and visited the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Everything was very nice: food, weather, towns that I went to. Two days before leaving the place and going back to the AUBG, I was walking around the town and came across a rainbow-colored stairs in a small park. I was told that it was painted earlier this year when Cypriot government passed the law that decriminalized homosexuality. Now, that sounded very interesting to me.

I did some research and here is what I found. In Northern Cyprus, only homosexual men used to be persecuted with three years in prison while female homosexuality was not considered illegal. As you know, Cyprus used to be a British colony, so such laws were inherited from the colonial legal code. After the island became independent and later divided in two, southern (Greece) part of Cyprus was first to decriminalize homosexuality in order to get accepted to the EU. In Turkey homosexuality was legal since mid-nineteenth century but now, due to a very socially conservative population newly elected officials promised to think about introducing anti-homophobia law that will persecute violence against LGBT community. By decriminalizing homosexuality, Northern Cyprus is now standing on the same line with Turkey and Southern Cyprus. By signing the bill in February this year, Northern Cyprus became the last one in Europe to legalize same-sex relations between consenting adults.

BUS 449 Post 9

Dear Reader,

Let me introduce to you Maxim Martsinkevich, a Russian neo-Nazi activist and his organization “Occupy Pedophilia” which is incredibly popular in Russia and has over 90,000 followers in social network website. The main preoccupation of the group is a witch –hunting of LGBT community. Don’t be confused with the name; Occupy Pedophilia intentionally targets homosexuals as a way of cleansing population and protecting moral innocence of future generations.

Activists of “Occupy Pedophilia” use social network VKontakte as means to connect with young homosexuals posing as potential date in order to meet them and make a humiliating video that would later be posted on the aforementioned site. Despite universal awareness, some are still falling for the trick due to desperation or other reasons. After three hours of watching the videos of caught victims, one could witness the evolution of their methods of “treating” homosexuals from their illness. One of the more popular methods is so-called “urinotherapy”, when the boy is forced to drink urine and thus somehow cleanse himself. This method has gained certain popularity and LGBT activists cite bottles with urine as one of the common items thrown at them. Even though those videos sometimes get banned, they still are being shared on other sites without any obstacles and cause suicide rates among teenagers increase. This is what Occupy leader says about their procedures: “Let his life be broken by our methods, than by growing up to be a homosexual and selling himself for money. I do not care about their future. But they definitely shouldn’t expect an easy life after that”.

If you haven’t had enough of such monstrous hatred and violence, here is an article for you.

BUS 449 Post 8

Dear Reader,

I am sure you have heard bad news about what happened in Uganda. On 24 of February the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni signed the bill called Anti-Homosexuality Act which “prohibits any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex and the promotion or recognition of such relations”. Originally, the punishment for engaging in “aggravated homosexuality” (defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner was infected with HIV) was death penalty but it was “mercifully” changed to lifetime imprisonment. The law has already sparked violence where prominent gay activist David Kato was murdered after the list with top 100 homosexuals was published.

The President claims that he signed the bill into the law after his “team of scientists” showed that homosexual orientation is not a genetic disorder but rather a matter of choice. Here we need to remember that homosexuality was criminalized even before this law was enacted. This brings up a question: Why would anybody DELIBERATELY CHOOSE being a homosexual if it is clear that homosexuality is not only strongly opposed by Ugandan society but also is considered a crime?

Clearly this argument is absurd just like believing that gays want to recruit children and destroy the society. Many believe that Museveni did it to ensure public support for the upcoming election. At the same time he strongly dislikes gay people saying “They're disgusting. What sort of people are they?”

Many Ugandan homosexuals have fled the country in a fear of prosecution and I suspect there will be more willing to escape the country where freedom of choice is not a human right.

BUS 449 Post 7

Dear reader,

I want to continue with the Stephen Fry’s documentary “Out There”. Another country that Fry visited was Mother Russia. Unlike in Brazil, the situation with homophobia is on the other side of spectrum.

In Russia, government becomes more and more conservative, and the Orthodox Church is the most powerful institution in the country. Saint Petersburg – city that used to have reputation of being the most liberal – was the first to adopt anti-propaganda law, created by deputy Vitaly Milonov. As you may already know, according to his law it became illegal to promote homosexuality to minors. I believe everyone agrees that children are underage minors who unable to make rational decisions, therefore they cannot consent, and an attempt to force them into any sexually-related activity is illegal and has to be prevented. However, according to officials’ minds, the word “propaganda” has much broader meaning that aforementioned definition. Educating children of possibility of different sexuality is also considered to be illegal even though some of them start feeling that they might be gay. So now gay parents break law every day as the promote homosexuality to their own children. To highlight how absurd the law is, Fry comments: “I have never ever wanted anybody to become gay who is not gay. Just as I am English and I have never wanted anybody to become English”.

Deputy Milonov, who is currently training to become a priest, truly believes that he can save generations from being gay by banning gay propaganda. However, the result of this law is that there are so many children who attempted suicide because of their sexuality but offering them information and support is now illegal for everybody, including teachers, psychologists, and even their parents.

Here is a link to the interview where you can hear all ridiculous things he said by yourself

BUS 449 Post 6

Dear Reader,

This post will be about a documentary “Out There” that I have watched, made by Stephen Fry, a well-known British celebrity. In the film he travels from country to country and evaluates how people treat people, in particular, the level of homophobia in the society.

One of the countries he traveled to was Brazil. It is one of the few countries where gay people have full legal equality with straight people; marriage is one of the rights as well. Such decision was made by Brazilian governmental officials unanimously, with no abstentions. Also, according to Guinness World Records, Brazil holds the world’s biggest Gay Pride Parade in a city of Sao Paulo.

Recently, new political debate has arisen where children were at the center of the discussion. New law was formulated but not yet implemented – the law prohibiting homophobia. It would introduce obligatory anti-homophobia classes in middle school where teenagers would learn about what damage homophobia causes.

Of course, there is a conservative party that wishes to prevent the law from being implemented and the leader of this party is interviewed by Stephen Fry. The main argument raised was that “no father would ever take pride in having a gay son” to which Fry replied that “the only reason parents might be unhappy is when they know that there is homophobia in society, therefore, this child may be bullied. However, if there is no homophobia, there is no pressure or abuse of children which makes both parents and children happy.”

The most common story that we can here is that evil gay people persuade and recruit children to become one of them and then abuse them. In fact, such lies create nothing but hysteria among uneducated from which violence can grow because you only hate when you are ignorant and afraid.  Perhaps anti-homophobia law is something all countries should think about and I hope this law eventually will pass.

Fun fact from zoology: there are 480 animal species that exhibit homosexual behavior but only one species of animal on the Earth that exhibits homophobic behavior. (So think twice before using “being normal” in your argument.)

BUS 449 Post 5

Dear Reader,

Today I want to talk about love and the beauty of it. I truly believe that everybody deserves to be loved no matter how this person identifies himself/herself. I was inspired to write about this after I have watched a video where Andrew Solomon talks about his experience working with deaf people. He says: “I had thought of deafness entirely as an illness. Those poor people, they couldn't hear. They lacked hearing and what could we do for them? And then I went out into the deaf world. I went to deaf clubs. I saw performances of deaf theater and of deaf poetry. I even went to the Miss Deaf America contest.” The point he tries to make here is that we tend to perceive people that are different from us in a certain way or a view, as a minority which we antagonize ourselves from both intentionally and unintentionally. We think of deaf people with pity while, in fact, they can be perfectly happy, having their own culture, family, communities etc. What he proposes is that we need to learn how to accept people who differ from us in a certain way or whose views mismatch ours as we are equal. There is no difference whether a person is deaf or blind or a dwarf…or a gay. We are all human beings, we all have feelings and we desperately need love.

Fortunately, and I think you agree with me, nowadays we can see the change in our perception of how we treat those people. We are raised with understanding that some people are a little bit different and we have learned from our childhood to accept them. As an example, here is a paragraph from the Time magazine in 1966:

"Even in purely non-religious terms, homosexuality represents a misuse of the sexual faculty. It is a pathetic little second-rate substitute for reality - a pitiable flight from life. As such, it deserves no compassion, it deserves no treatment as minority martyrdom, and it deserves not to be deemed anything but a pernicious sickness."

In 2014 we see that the same country (Time is an American magazine) not only tolerates but also defends same sex marriage. The illness has transformed to the identity and I think it is a big step in a social development. People are starting to understand that it is not a big deal if somebody is different from you. You still can love and be loved.

What I am trying to say to you, reader, is don’t be afraid to love, love no matter what! It doesn’t matter whether you are gay or straight, deaf or blind…love! And if one day you realize that your child is different, I beg you to accept this difference. After all, the love you have for your children is like no other feeling in the world, right?

Here is the full speech of Andrew Solomon if you are interested.

Post 4

Dear reader,
As you have probably heard, today we had a screening of documentary “Young and Gay in Putin’s Russia” by VICE magazine. The description to the movie is:

“When Russian President Vladimir Putin banned gay "propaganda" in June last year, Russia's LGBT community went from being a stigmatized fringe group to full-blown enemies of the state. Homophobia becoming legislation means it’s now not only accepted in Russia but actively encouraged, which has led to a depressing rise in homophobic attacks and murders.The main aim of the law, which essentially bans any public display of homosexuality, is to prevent minors from getting the impression that being gay is normal. This means that, if you’re young and gay in Putin’s Russia, you’re ostracized and cut off from any kind of legal support network.”

It’s the second time I was watching it but still I couldn't stay emotionless during the screening. It shows all the horror gay people (especially teenagers) have to go through living in Russia. Keep in mind that my message here is that people suffer and we do need to stop it. I do not say that Russia is the only country that ignores the rights of its citizen, no; there are many other countries in the world that have the same issues. I want to talk about Russia because it is MY country, I was born there, I grew up there, and my whole family lives there. Anti-gay law does not directly affect ME but it affects people I deeply care about. This law is not the first one that to some extend limits people’s rights. And I am afraid it is not the last one. Who knows, maybe next time I will be oppressed and who will stand up for me? Gay people haven’t done anything wrong but they suffer only because their views do not match ours. So, what if my view will become one of those unaccepted ones (let’s use our imagination and, say, substitute the word “gay” with “atheist”)? Just ask yourself this question, reader.
You all know Niemöller’s poem: 

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
There was no one left to speak out.

Also, if you missed the screening but want to watch it, here is the link.

BUS 449 Post 3

Dear reader,

I hope you watched the opening ceremony of Olympic Games in Sochi and enjoyed a beautiful show! Ignore those who complain about minor defects. It was astonishing!

In the meantime, as you may know from AUBG e-mail or Facebook, our students decided to make a one-day trip to Sofia in order to lay a basket with flowers on the doorsteps of Russian Embassy. Flowers were accompanied with an open letter to the Government.

More than 30 people from 13 countries signed the letter and supported initiative, however there were a lot of hateful and derogatory remarks about the idea.

One of the top senseless comments was questioning how those, who have signed the open letter do not understand that this “stupid letter won’t even reach Moscow”. Well, in response to such weak attempt I can say that the purpose of the open letter is not reaching certain place but rather attracting attention of a wide audience.

Another comment was sending this message: from all the injustices and misfortunes that Russian people suffer from (high level of corruption, unemployment, low income, etc.) how dare AUBGers be concerned with just human rights violation! Although words of the message were reasonable worry, call to not to join the group think was a bit too far. Who knew what did the person think when saying this?

Anyways, I was one of the students who supported the idea and decided to go. To my surprise everything went very smoothly despite the fact that Embassies are very cautious about foreign objects being left nearby them. So we made lots of pictures and left the bouquet in the close by park.

P.S. There is still time if you want to sign the letter. It will be available until Monday and you can find it at the front desk of your Skapto.

BUS 449 Post 2

Dear Reader,

Congrats with making it to the second post! Keep up the good work!

A lot of interesting things are happening this week in the world but the biggest event of this week is, of course, the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi. We are all excited about games and a great show, that is a fabulous end of a campaign where even the Olympic torch had to travel more than any other person on earth (and out of it).

However, not everything is as rosy as every one of us, but especially Mr. Putin wants it to be. A dark cloud on this bright blue sky appeared to be a number of protests and boycotts that demand Olympics to be banned. Sochi is facing many obstacles and problems, but among the rest the most important are: one third of the dedicated amount of money is gone as a result of a corruption; stray animals are being poisoned or shot so they don’t run into a stadium during the game; and, of course, the new-born legislature that makes LGBT propaganda illegal, and, therefore, effectively puts homosexual sportsmen and visitors in danger. (Note: according to the law, holding hands in public is propaganda as well.)

One of the first individuals who spoke about the latter issue was British celebrity Stephen Fry, who wrote “An Open Letter to David Cameron and the IOC” asking to ban the Olympics over the anti-gay laws. Numerous online campaigns and petitions also occur, but it looks like nothing really had been changed.

Fun fact: the mayor of Sochi, Anatoly Pakhomov, claims there are no gay people in the city. Who knows what he bases his theories on, considering the fact that there are several gay bars that somehow survived in business environment and have revenue? As there are no gay people in Sochi, therefore everyone [Games guests] should “respect the laws of the Russian Federation and do not impose their habits on others”. And this is what amuses me the most in his interview.

"There are no gay people in Sochi." 

Anatoly Pakhomov

It's worth remembering that the Olympic Games are not about politics - they are about peaceful international competition, in the spirit of unity. In that spirit, let's all root for a happy, safe and prosperous Olympics. In this positive note, please follow here for an uplifting video.

BUS 449 Post 1

Dear reader,

My name is Rita and this blog will be my effort to speak to you closely on the topic that we don’t or are ashamed to think of on a regular basis. Before I say anything more serious this also is my project for Managing Social Media class at the American University in Bulgaria.

So, prior to our pep-talk I would like to ask you the simplest question over which millions of brilliant minds of hundreds of generations were breaking their brains in halves. What is love to you?

I assume (and let me assume because it is my blog, and it’s a free world, come on!) some of you may think of teddy bears and bouquets, others about more mature things. But how about love for everything and EVERYBODY. And by everybody I mean EVERYBODY.

In my home country (Mother RUSSIA!) grown-ups teach us to love and support each other, but they deliberately throw their lessons into the trash by judging us for making our own choices if it does not fit with their understanding of LOVE.

In a best scenario you will be getting nasty looks. In worst you will be considered as immoral. Wrong. Fake. But misunderstood is all you will be.

If you are reading this right now it means you are willing to make a step out of your perfect Barbie world where there are no gays or lesbians. But you will make a step to a better one. Where there is love that has no boundaries.

Welcome to Love is Love!

Sincerely yours, Rita.