President Obama made clear Friday that he opposes an effort to boycott the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia over the country’s anti-gay laws.
“I know that one question that’s been raised is how do we approach the Olympics. I want to just make very clear right now I do not think it’s appropriate to boycott the Olympics,” he said during a press conference. “We’ve got a bunch of Americans out there who are training hard, who are doing everything they can to succeed.
“Nobody’s more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you’ve been seeing in Russia. But as I said just this week, I’ve spoken out against that, not just with respect to Russia, but a number of other countries where we continue to do work with them but we have a strong disagreement on this issue. And one of the things I’m really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we’re seeing there.”
