Which 2022 Winter Olympic candidate city will be best for gays?

The Sochi games this past winter were not without controversy thanks in part to increasing homophobia in Russia. While life in Russia has worsened for gays, and the international media has already turned its attention away, the impact and legacy of the games did not improve human rights around the games. To avoid a repeat of the Sochi games, can the International Olympic committee avoid picking a host nation with a poor human and LGBT rights record?

Winning an Olympic bid is a big deal for the host nation and city. It also puts an international spotlight on the host, often with the media trying to find controversy and drama around the build up to the games. We’re now watching as the media asks with the Rio games be completed on time, just as they asked leading up to Sochi.

The International Olympic committee can when it chooses to apply pressure to competing countries to lift bans and change regulations that seek to oppress athletes. Until recent games women were not sent from some nations including Saudi Arabia. The 2012 London games saw for the first time in Olympic history every country include female athletes. Women still have a way to go in being accepted fairly at the Olympics. For example, female ski jumping remains banned at the winter games. Some sports continue to be sexist, for both sexes opportunities to compete is not equal.

This week the three finalist candidate cities to host the 2022 Winter games were announced, though as the only three cities which had yet to pull their bids the selection work had already happened without need for a vote. Oslo (Norway), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China) are all in the running to host the Winter Olympics. The IOC has a chance to not only avoid controversy but promote a games that ensure human rights are met. Better to award the games to a nation which already has a good human and LGBT rights record than to select a country with declining standards in hope to improve rights leading up to the game.

Which candidate city and country therefore has the best record? Well let’s review the choices, in what you will see is a list from best to worst.

Olso, Norway
Norway is the front-runner among the three candidates for gay-rights records. Like most Scandinavian countries, Norway is seen as very liberal with regard to LGBT equality. Same-sex activity has been legal since 1972 and the age of consent is 16 regardless of sexual orientation. Equal marriage has been legal since 2009, while registered partnerships have been allowed since 1993 (plus married and committed same-sex couples are allowed to adopt).

Significant equality was gained in 1981 when Norway became the first country to enact law preventing discrimination towards LGBT people. Discrimination based on sexual orientation, and prohibiting hate speech towards sexual minorities was also included in the penal code amendment at the time. Oslo as befits a capital and Norway’s largest city, has a large and open gay community.

There is unlikely to be any issues or controversy surrounding Oslo’s hosting of the 2022 Winter games especially for gay athletes, media and tourists. In fact it’s likely Norway’s accepting nature will have a positive impact and legacy for all.

Beijing, China
Attitudes in China have improved in recent decades but has a long way to go for discrimination rights to be equal. Consensual same-sex activity was removed from the penal code in 1997 but it wasn’t until 2001 that the Ministry of Health removed ‘homosexuality’ from their list of mental illnesses. No legal rights exist for gays and lesbians to protect them from harassment or discrimination. Same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt and face no protections as heterosexual couples do.

Being out in public is not commonplace and festivals or gatherings are not permitted and are often shut down immediately (as are gay websites within China). Most forms of public protest or gathering is illegal in China, and it is said that many movements including environmental causes are decades behind. Large cities like Shanghai and Beijing do have significant gay populations with nightclubs and gay bars. More than anything Chinese family culture is probably the single biggest reason rights are slow in coming, with a reported 80% of gay men marrying women due to social and family pressure. But slowly attitudes are changing.

China is in no way a gay-rights utopia, however Beijing previously hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics. China has not had a good human rights record all around. In the lead up to the Summer games there were reports, such as those covered by Gay City news, that police were raiding known gay gathering places including nightclubs and cruising parks, gathering and documenting Chinese nationals found there (after foreigners were removed), pointing to an active campaign to silence and suppress the gay community from being seen ahead of or during the games. Very little else was noticed around the games so controversies were at a minimum; news reports at the time were more concerned with air population and hiding the poor.

Almaty, Kazakhstan
Male and female same-sex activity is legal in Kazakhstan but there are no protections against discrimination at work and in everyday life. Due to negative public attitudes towards gays and lesbians, including acts of violence, gay people live in danger in Kazakhstan and most remain in the closet to protect themselves and keep their jobs. Law enforcement are often hostile and unwilling to assist any LGBT complaints of homophobic violence. According to the University of Chicago study, like in Russia the trend towards acceptance of gays has reversed in many former Soviet republics in opposition to world-wide trends.

Considering the state of gay-rights in Russia and other former Soviet countries, especially those further removed from Europe, and the downward trend, if not considerable regression as was seen in 1930s Nazi Germany, it is likely things will get worst. Kazakhstan would be the least safe place for gay athletes and tourists, and one country the IOC members should strongly avoid.

Verdict
While reviewing which candidate city has the best LGBT rights record only looks at the current state, and can’t predict eight years into the future, the decision will be made next year and could take a view based on now. Then again, viewing Russia eight-nine years before Sochi one wouldn’t have seen the downward trend that early.

The choice may simply come down to which regions have recently hosted Olympic games. The 2018 Winter games are taking place in South Korea, not too far from China (which also hosted the 2008 Summer games). Kazakhstan borders both China and Russia although as a form Soviet satellite, the Western Asia city of Almaty is still relatively close to Sochi. In terms of regions that have not held the winter games recently, Europe is only slightly ahead of South America and Africa (which are not likely ever to host due simple to climate). This may leave Oslo in a good position logically, however Norway has previously staged the winter Olympics twice before.

In the end, when the IOC members place their votes, human rights may be the last thing on their minds. Politics may easily influence voting decisions.