Dear Russia...

I'm sure that this is a little late in coming but congratulations on winning the 2014 Winter Olympics.  Generally I enjoy watching the Olympics.  I love to watch the Luge and bobsledders and sometimes the downhill skiers.

However, this year I won't be watching them.  I wish I could do more to protest your lack of humanity towards gay people who live in your country.  I also don't believe you when you say that gay athletes will be protected from current anti-gay laws in your country.  I can't think of a time in recent Russian history except under the rule of Gorbachev, where gays have not been tormented but now you've turned it in to a law that says it's ok to harm people who are gay.

I'm not surprised that this type of action has been taken or that this type of action is being condoned by Russian leadership.  The new Russia, its predecessor the USSR and prior to that Czarist Russia, all have well documented histories of genocides of people who fail to conform, either as individuals or whole segments of specific cultures.  If people don't agree with us, it's "off with their heads"!

I'm not sure how all these incarnations of Russia have been able to survive this long without tearing itself apart...oh wait...they haven't.  When you look at your history, you can see where the people that you have oppressed have risen up against you, violently, and made sweeping changes to the status quo.  Admittedly, not all these changes have been good and most of them led to other, larger uprisings.

However, today the world is watching you.  Activists from inside Russia, at much great danger to themselves are working diligently to show the world just what is going on inside Russia.  They are being aided by activists outside Russia in ensuring that pressure is brought to bear not only on Russia but on the International Olympic Committee to ensure that gay athletes are not incarcerated because of this ignorant law.

I agree with the athletes who say that a boycott is not the answer.  This is one of those things where people must make a visible and poignant statement to the world that the LGBT community is just as deserving of civil rights and equal protection under the law as everyone else.  Perhaps this issue can also be a starting point for all the oppressed ethnic cultures still under the thumb of "Mother Russia".

British actor Stephen Fry makes an eloquent case for a boycott in his blog and I do see his point.  It's giving a stage to a crazy man and an unfeeling country but things are different than they were during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  The biggest difference is the power of the press, not only the mainstream media but the independent folks who write about their experiences, the blogs, the podcasts that will surely take place despite how hard Russian officials will try and crack down on them.

So "Mother Russia" it is time that you put on your big girl panties and start promoting tolerance and respect for the LGBT community in your homeland.  As a mother, I can't imagine taking my son and tossing him away like garbage or allowing him to be abused simply because of his sexual orientation.  It is time that you started acting like a Mother and hold ALL your children close to your breast and protect them from harm.