If you are used to walking around town holding your boyfriend’s hand, the organizers of the London Olympics want you to know that’s cool with them. But Sochi, Russia, where the next Winter Games will be held will not be quite as welcoming. But that’s not because the town is homophobic. They’re just scared exposure to homosexuality will turn their citizens gay.

Earlier this month the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) held a ‘Diversity Day’ where LOCOG bosses were joined by Britain’s equality minister, Lynne Featherstone MP, and members of the LOCOG diversity board, including gay former NBA star John Amaechi. Diversity Day stressed the organization’s efforts to involve minority ethnic communities in the Games, and to ensure the participation and access for disabled people. The LOCOG has also targeted the gay community in its plans to make this year’s Olympics inclusive.

“With the eyes of the world on the UK as we host the Olympic Games this summer it’s more important than ever that we ensure sport is open and welcoming to participants and spectators alike’” said Featherstone. “I applaud LOCOG for their work to ensure the games are as diverse and inclusive as possible. They were one of the first bodies to sign the government’s Sport Charter to tackle abuse and discrimination in sport, particularly that faced by LGB&T people, when it launched last year. The message is the London 2012 Games are for everyone to enjoy.”

Part of their efforts have included diversity training for volunteers and staff. About 70,000 people have been given advice in the My Games Maker Workbook, produced by LOCOG. The booklet includes a multiple choice quiz on various scenarios involving sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, and people with disabilities. Among the questions is this one dealing with gays:

A spectator complains to you that there are two men holding hands sitting next to them – they feel very uncomfortable and would like you to tell the couple to stop. What do you do?

a) You tell the person to stop being a homophobic idiot and walk away.

b) You want everybody to feel comfortable and welcome at the Games, so you politely ask the couple to stop holding hands.

c) You explain that there is a huge diversity of people at the London 2012 Games, which includes gay, lesbian and bisexual couples.

Though Answer A would be the best option, the organizers went with C as the correct reply instead. But then the Pope donning a sombrero during his recent visit to Mexico proved even he is not infallible. One volunteer described the quiz as being patronizing and that most scenarios could be dealt with by using common sense. He also noted that some of those taking the quiz were deliberately choosing the wrong answer for the fun of it.

In the ‘Is He or Is She’ section of the quiz, volunteers are asked how to best direct a member of the public to the toilets if they could not tell whether the guest is male or female. Answer choices include:

a) Ask them politely if they are male or female.

b) Panic.

c) Tell them where the male, female toilets and accessible toilets are.

I’ll let you figure out the correct answer on your own. Russia has gone with B.

Last week Russian Judge Svetlana Mordovina ruled in agreement with the Russian Ministry of Justice and an earlier lower court ruling on the denial of registering a Pride House for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Last year the Ministry banned a gay-rights group in Russia from its plans on opening an official Olympic House that would cater to the gay community. The first Pride House was launched during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada and Pride House London opened earlier this year to serve as a space for gay visitors, athletes and coaches to relax, watch events, and meet friends.

Olympic houses are hospitality centers that showcase music, performances, food, demonstrations, art exhibits, culture, game viewing opportunities, and appearances by athletes. Many nations sponsor houses, as do numerous special interests groups and communities. They serve as refuges and hang-out spots for athletes and fans but also venues for countries and groups to showcase themselves.

In denying the registration, the court said that a Pride House advocates a non-traditional sexual orientation that could spark social strife and lead to a decrease in the country’s already low birth rate, thereby “undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation” and that Pride House’s goals “undermine public morals and are at odds with national policy on the family, motherhood and children.”

Judge Mordovina, who described the idea of a Pride House in Sochi as extremist, said, “Such aims as creating an understanding of the fight against homophobia and the creation of positive attitudes towards LGBT sportsmen contradicts the basics of public morality because they are directed towards the increase of the number of citizens of sexual minorities that breach the understanding of good and evil, good and bad, vice and virtue.”

Nikolai Alekseev, one of Russia’s leading LGBT activists said that the idea of Pride House had received great support from gay activists around the world. “We believe that we have to continue this tradition in Sochi after Vancouver and London,” he said adding that Pride House organizers would not let the matter rest and were in contact with the International Olympic Committee about the issue.

Afraid that their country will turn from red to a big ball of pink, Russia’s response to gay rights has been in the country’s best tradition of pogroms past. Mass arrests and stormtrooper tactics have been the norm for answering recent attempts by the gay community to celebrate its existence. Violence has been preached as the best answer to use against those who participate in parades, gatherings, and demonstrations. In response to activists attempting to organize a gay pride parade in Moscow, Talgat Tadzhuddin, the chief mufti of Russia’s Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims, said, ““The parade should not be allowed, and if they still come out into the streets, then they should be bashed. Sexual minorities have no rights, because they have crossed the line. Alternative sexuality is a crime against God”.

In late February this year St. Petersburg – striving to recapture its glory days of being known as Leningrad – passed a law making it an offence to ‘promote’ gay or transgendered personal identities. The bill which became law this week was introduced by Vitaly Milonov, the United Russia Party’s deputy. It makes it an offence to engage in “the propaganda of male homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, and transgenderism among minors.” The law defines propaganda as “the intentional and unregulated distribution in a publicly accessible manner of information that can harm the health or the process of moral and spiritual development of minors, including forming among them the false perception that traditional and non-traditional relationships are socially equal.”

The Russian Parliament is apparently so thrilled with the international criticism lofted St. Petersburg’s way that it is looking to duplicate their efforts with a bill that was introduced to the Dumas last week. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but several other cities in the country have similar laws on the books and any attempt by Russian gays to gain equality are met with stiff, and often violent, resistance.

Madonna has a show scheduled for St. Petersburg, one stop on her Lady Gaga Ain’t Shit world tour. She recently posted a comment on her Facebook page pledging to “support the gay community” and speak out against “this ridiculous atrocity.” Milanov, the bill’s sponsor, told the Russian Interfax news agency that he was “ready to personally suffer a couple of hours of her concert” in order to “control its moral content.”

In recent years the Olympics have made an attempt to be inclusive and to support equality in sports. The Olympic charter commits the International Olympic Committee: ‘To act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement’; and ‘To encourage and support the development of sport for all’. So you’d think part of their decision in picking a host city would be to ensure it will support the Olympic’s values. Whether organizers of the Games become involved in this issue remains to be seen. Allowing Sochi to practice their brand of homophobia, however, will send a much clearer message than current attempts to help workers and volunteers in London to deal with the thorny issue of the correct way to direct someone to a toilet.

[‘The XXX Games’ are a series of posts about hot Olympians, gay competitors – both present and past – and general articles about the 2012 London Olympics of interest to gay men. So, yeah, lots of hot male eye candy. Click the XXX Games graphic above for additional news, stories, and pictures.]