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'Olympic Charter' Google doodle and five other Sochi gay protests
Logos rebranded with gay pride rainbow, while cabaret act sings 'good luck gays, on gay mountain'
The controversial Russian law, which ostensibly bans gay propaganda among minors, has been criticised for encouraging discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups. President Vladimir Putin, who signed the legislation last year, insists it is needed to "protect young people". Google is not the first company to make a stand...
Channel 4
The broadcaster, which will be showing the Winter Paralympics, has rebranded its distinctive logo with the gay pride rainbow colours. It will also be running a 'Gay Mountain' advert in support of gay athletes at Sochi. It will debut at 7pm tonight, as BBC2's live coverage of the opening ceremony nears its climax, and will be featured regularly over the next week. The tongue-in-cheek ad, which will run for a week, features a "bear" cabaret act singing a song which features lyrics including "good luck gays, on gay mountain".
The Week
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The clothing giant has launched a line of merchandise based on the Olympic charter's Principle 6, which states: "Sport does not discriminate on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise." American Apparel, which is donating proceeds of the P6 product to LGBT groups in Russia, hopes that by using the charter's own language their clothing can be worn at the Olympics without breaching Russia's propaganda ban or the Olympics' rule against political speech. Mashable describes it as "one of the greatest ambush marketing campaigns in Olympics history".
Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion
The equality campaign group has released a spoof video showing how "the Games have always been a little gay". It shows two men preparing for a luge run, set to the soundtrack of the Human League classic Don't You Want Me. "Let's fight to keep them that way," the video's message concludes.
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Skins
The global sportswear brand has launched a social media campaign, entitled International Olympic Contradictions, highlighting why it was wrong to award the Winter Olympics to Sochi. Skins - which has more than 25 partner athletes taking part in the Games - says it does not believe a boycott is appropriate, arguing that it would "effectively deny athletes exactly the sort of opportunity we're speaking up for". Instead, it will release daily messages highlighting how the selection of Sochi contradicts important elements of the IOC's own charter.
AT&T
The telecommunications giant, a major Winter Olympics advertiser and a long-time sponsor of the United States Olympic Committee, has spoken out against the anti-gay law in a statement on its website. The law, it said, is "harmful to LGBT individuals and families, and it's harmful to a diverse society". The move is likely to put added pressure on major Olympics sponsors, including McDonald's, Samsung, Coca-Cola and Visa, to specifically address the issue. While Coca-Cola won praise from gay rights organisations for including a clip of same-sex parents in its advert at the Super Bowl last week, activists are still urging the company to speak out against Russia's new law.
