By Sarah Farquharson (11/21/13)
We’ve heard about Russia’s radical anti-gay laws and the controversy about the Olympic games being held there. Even President Barack Obama gave a speech about opposing boycotting the Olympic games and said, "Nobody is more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you’ve been seeing in Russia.” Russian President Vladimir Putin banned “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.” That’s right! Even waving around an LGBT flag will get you thrown in jail and fined 150 U.S. dollars. Some Olympic athletes like Kseniya Ryzhova and Tatyana Firov (Russian), after winning a gold medal for the IAAF track championships in Moscow, kissed on the stand after receiving their medal to oppose the anti-gay laws of their own country. Way to make a statement! Now a famous gay rights group called FCKH8 created a campaign that will send 10,000 Russian children pro-gay coloring books during the Olympics.
Luke Montgomery, founder of the FCKH8 foundation, told The Huffington Post, “The message of this coloring book is to let kids in Russia know that being gay is normal. Beating and imprisoning people just for being out of the closet, or arresting them for simply saying that it’s OK if someone in their family is gay is an attack on human rights and a trashing of the Olympic spirit." While I completely agree that punishing someone for race, religion, or sexual preference is a heinous crime, I also feel that sending 10,000 children pro-gay coloring books in a country known for unlawful treatment of homosexuals is just an accident waiting to happen. Open-minded individuals would see this as something to enlighten children that their government is immoral. But the coloring book does show graphic images of children being taken away from their parents because they are gay couples. I see this as a risk for the safety of the children. People have fled Russia from vicious beatings from anti-gay supporters. For a child to walk around with a coloring book that violates an unjust law might compromise their safety.
I decided to look at other student’s points of view on the issue to see where they stand on FCKH8’s decision to send out coloring books to Russian children. I came across a good friend Maeve Cunningham who is a senior theatre student and an advocate for the LGBT community. She said, “I think it’s a great idea, but I know Russia has been having its problems with laws against homosexuality. I think it’s wrong to deny it and I think it’s great to open kids' minds. It’s gotten better here [United States] but there is still punishment there [Russia]. It worries me because there needs to be change in order to change the next generation.” Throughout history pamphlets and literature have changed countries such as “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and the “Civil Right’s Act of 1964” pamphlet and sending these coloring books could raise a generation of equality. The coloring book's future impact could indeed end Putin’s legislation.
I also spoke with another student, senior visual artist Imani Manick-Highsmith, about the issue. “I think it’s a great idea; they’re not doing anything wrong. They’re informing kids about lgbt issues and, in the future, kids can learn from them. There may be safety issues, but if the parents are okay with that they can protect them. With any issue there is a safety risk.” Imani’s statement about safety risks did open my eyes to previous movements, such as the Women's Suffragist movement and the Civil Rights movement. People were jailed for standing up for their rights, and were beaten as well. Children who get the opportunity to learn about marriage equality in such an oppressed country may grow up to make history.
Children should know there’s nothing wrong being who you are and people who like the same sex are just regular people. But I still think that children could be put in a compromised position, because according to Russia’s laws, the coloring book is “homosexual propaganda” and the parents could be held responsible, even removed from their children and their children could be beaten. Although the activists have great intentions, I feel that the risks could outweigh the benefits. If this were to occur in a country that is more tolerable of same-sex relations, such as the United States, then it could have a more beneficial impact. For more on this story visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/15/russian-children-coloring-book_n_4282899.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
We’ve heard about Russia’s radical anti-gay laws and the controversy about the Olympic games being held there. Even President Barack Obama gave a speech about opposing boycotting the Olympic games and said, "Nobody is more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you’ve been seeing in Russia.” Russian President Vladimir Putin banned “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.” That’s right! Even waving around an LGBT flag will get you thrown in jail and fined 150 U.S. dollars. Some Olympic athletes like Kseniya Ryzhova and Tatyana Firov (Russian), after winning a gold medal for the IAAF track championships in Moscow, kissed on the stand after receiving their medal to oppose the anti-gay laws of their own country. Way to make a statement! Now a famous gay rights group called FCKH8 created a campaign that will send 10,000 Russian children pro-gay coloring books during the Olympics.
Luke Montgomery, founder of the FCKH8 foundation, told The Huffington Post, “The message of this coloring book is to let kids in Russia know that being gay is normal. Beating and imprisoning people just for being out of the closet, or arresting them for simply saying that it’s OK if someone in their family is gay is an attack on human rights and a trashing of the Olympic spirit." While I completely agree that punishing someone for race, religion, or sexual preference is a heinous crime, I also feel that sending 10,000 children pro-gay coloring books in a country known for unlawful treatment of homosexuals is just an accident waiting to happen. Open-minded individuals would see this as something to enlighten children that their government is immoral. But the coloring book does show graphic images of children being taken away from their parents because they are gay couples. I see this as a risk for the safety of the children. People have fled Russia from vicious beatings from anti-gay supporters. For a child to walk around with a coloring book that violates an unjust law might compromise their safety.
I decided to look at other student’s points of view on the issue to see where they stand on FCKH8’s decision to send out coloring books to Russian children. I came across a good friend Maeve Cunningham who is a senior theatre student and an advocate for the LGBT community. She said, “I think it’s a great idea, but I know Russia has been having its problems with laws against homosexuality. I think it’s wrong to deny it and I think it’s great to open kids' minds. It’s gotten better here [United States] but there is still punishment there [Russia]. It worries me because there needs to be change in order to change the next generation.” Throughout history pamphlets and literature have changed countries such as “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and the “Civil Right’s Act of 1964” pamphlet and sending these coloring books could raise a generation of equality. The coloring book's future impact could indeed end Putin’s legislation.
I also spoke with another student, senior visual artist Imani Manick-Highsmith, about the issue. “I think it’s a great idea; they’re not doing anything wrong. They’re informing kids about lgbt issues and, in the future, kids can learn from them. There may be safety issues, but if the parents are okay with that they can protect them. With any issue there is a safety risk.” Imani’s statement about safety risks did open my eyes to previous movements, such as the Women's Suffragist movement and the Civil Rights movement. People were jailed for standing up for their rights, and were beaten as well. Children who get the opportunity to learn about marriage equality in such an oppressed country may grow up to make history.
Children should know there’s nothing wrong being who you are and people who like the same sex are just regular people. But I still think that children could be put in a compromised position, because according to Russia’s laws, the coloring book is “homosexual propaganda” and the parents could be held responsible, even removed from their children and their children could be beaten. Although the activists have great intentions, I feel that the risks could outweigh the benefits. If this were to occur in a country that is more tolerable of same-sex relations, such as the United States, then it could have a more beneficial impact. For more on this story visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/15/russian-children-coloring-book_n_4282899.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
