The sixth item in the charter's "Fundamental Principles of Olympism" says
"any form of discrimination ... on grounds of race, religion, politics,
gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement." It does not specifically mention sexual orientation. "If
it came to a vote of IOC members, I would absolutely vote yes to amend
the charter," Probst said Tuesday during a news conference at the USOC
media summit.
America's newest member of the International Olympic Committee would
vote to amend the Olympic charter to list sexual orientation as a form
of discrimination. U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst, voted onto the IOC last month, said such an amendment is one of the few avenues available to the USOC
as it tries to send a message to Russia, which recently passed an
antigay law, less than a year before it hosts the Winter Olympics.
Probst reiterated that an American boycott of the
Sochi Olympics is not an option, but when asked what moves the USOC
could make, both Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun mentioned the possible amendment, which would have to be done at an IOC meeting. "There
are people who would like to see sexual orientation added to that
list," Blackmun said. "We'd support a change in that direction."
Besides
mentioning the amendment, the USOC leaders stuck mainly to their party
line: They are not there to change Russian law, and their top priority
is ensuring a safe and successful Olympics for their athletes. They are
also not telling their athletes to not speak their minds. Among the few athletes at this week's Olympic summit to speak against the Russian law was skier Bode Miller, who called the existence of such a law "absolutely embarrassing." Most others have said, in one way or another, that they'd let the USOC handle the politics while they focus on sports.
IOC
officials have said they don't have the authority to intervene in
Russia's lawmaking and are convinced there will be no discrimination
against athletes or spectators at the games.
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