US President Barack Obama opposed the idea of boycotting the Sochi Olympics in Russia next year because of the anti-gay laws in the country.
He instead wants the American gay and lesbian athletes to bring medals.
“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,” Obama told White House correspondents on Friday in response to a question at a news conference.
“We’ve got a bunch of Americans out there who are training hard, who are doing everything they can to succeed,” he said.
“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,” he said.
“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. And if Russia doesn’t have gay or lesbian athletes, then that would probably make their team weaker,” Obama added.