We would like to think that we are not like our once cold war enemy, Russia. “They” are intolerant and oppressive. And “they” are presently doing an injustice to gay people. But before we start throwing stones from our red, white, and blue glass house, we need to take a look at our own intolerance. What better way to do this than through satire.
The Onion is pretty on point in the video below with pointing out that Putin is not the only one intolerant of gays during this winter’s Olympics. America’s sports leagues and sports athletes seem to be in agreement with him all year round (Chris Culliver, Tank Carder, and Jonathan Vilma have said some anti-gay things, other athletes like Kobe Bryant and Amare Stoudemire have been called out for using the word “fag”, and Jason Collins is unemployed).
This just goes to show that there is no hierarchy to intolerance. We cant condemn Russia and ignore that there still are sodomy laws on the books in certain states, you can be fired for being gay in states like Mississippi, same sex couples cant get married in over 20 states, and hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ community is real. Intolerance is Intolerance. America, we must get ours in check. Remaining on high horses is not an Olympic event. Its time to get off.
Russia Applauds America’s Efforts To Exclude Gay Athletes From Professional Sports