Amid Putin's crackdown, Sochi gay scene thrives

[jakeXT]

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — A man named Ravil catapults onto the dance floor and starts stomping out the lezginka, the arrogant rooster strut of the Chechen national dance.

Ravil's spontaneous performance is made even more unusual by the fact he's in one of the two gay clubs in Sochi, the southern Russian town that will host the Winter Olympics amid Vladimir Putin's harsh crackdown on gays. The morality campaign — centered on a law banning homosexual "propaganda" — has threatened to overshadow the games as it provokes an international outcry.

Paradoxically, Sochi is a far cry from the conservative lifestyle that the president is trying to promote.

At club Mayak, for example, the dancers are as diverse as the city itself: a Muslim who is a former market butcher, an Armenian who owns a strip club in a nearby town, a Ukrainian who loves to sing like Whitney Houston and dress like Adele.


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/amid-putins-crackdown-sochi-gay-scene-thrives

[mitchtv]

1. My Guess?

as it gets closer to opening day ceremony, it will get more scrutiny and so be more dangerous to go to the clubs. And then they will be raided a month or so before. just to be pricks.

[JI7]

2. or the opposite

because people are paying attention to that area they may not be pushing what they do in other places.

once the games are over they will crack down .