Protest Areas for Winter Olympics

President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach told that Russia will set up public protest zones in Sochi during the Winter Olympics. There has been no detail on where these zones will be set up or how they will be managed. These zones seemed to be set up to try to diffuse the situation of the anti-gay laws set up in Russia right now. A similar situation happened in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they tried to set up protest zones though they were unsuccessful.

Recently in the news Russia has been brought up because of the anti-gay laws that have been passed, so I thought I would look into what the laws were and how it affects the citizens of Russia. From what I have read the anti-gay law prohibits the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations to minors." Essentially this means gay rights parades, gay rights organizations, or individuals showing support for gay rights can be fined and shut down. Individuals who have been charged with gay propaganda can be fined between 4,000 and 5,000 rubles (120-150 USD). Groups and government officials can be fined even more if supporting the 'gay propaganda'. Even if you're not a citizen of Russia you can be fined for 'gay propaganda', and even jailed for it. Since this law has passed a rise in homophobic violence has occurred, meaning the LGBT citizens have quite a bit to fight for their equality.