A monument which was erected in St. Petersburg in Russia back in 2013 was suddenly taken down — coincidentally after the current chief executive officer of Apple announced that he is gay — with “the need to abide by laws combating gay propaganda” being given as the reason.
According to this article posted at Michael W. Travels, the monument — six feet tall — was erected by a group of companies known as ZEFS in honor of Steve Jobs, who was not gay.
Unfortunately, this was no surprise to me.
Vladimir Putin — who is the president of Russia — signed in July of 2013 what became a controversial law which contains a provision allowing the government to arrest and detain up to 14 days foreigners who declare that they are gay…
…meaning that if you visit Russia as a foreigner and you are either gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans-gender, you are subject to the same fines and sentences as a resident of Russia if you publicly declare in any way, shape or form that you are “pro-gay” — including holding hands with someone who is the same gender as you in public, kissing your partner in public, wearing the symbolic rainbow flag on anything from shirts to suspenders, publicly acknowledging that you are gay, or supporting gay rights.
Foreigners may even face deportation in addition to being arrested and detained…
…and do not expect any assistance from law enforcement or the government if you are a victim of anti-gay violence.
FlyerTalk members were so furious and livid that they not only intended to either cancel their plans to travel to Russia or avoid visiting that country altogether in the foreseeable future, but also intended to sign petitions and consider boycotting the Winter Olympic games in Sochi during February of 2014 as a response to the controversial law.
Apparently, that law extends to monuments of founders of companies whose current chief executive officers — Tim Cook, in this case — declare from thousands of miles away across the ocean from another land that he is gay or she is a lesbian.
I am not gay; but the apparent reason for the removal of the monument is completely ridiculous, in my opinion…
…so what is next? Ban Apple products in Russia? That will show those nefariously fiendish gay people…
