U.S. Runner Nick Symmonds made headlines yesterday by winning the silver medal of the Men’s 800-meter at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championship in Moscow and defying Russian law by dedicating his silver medal to all of his gay friends and publically speaking out against Russia’s draconian anti-gay laws

Symmonds told RiaNovosti:

“As much as I can speak out about it, I believe that all humans deserve equality as however God made them. Whether you’re gay, straight, black, white, we all deserve the same rights. If there’s anything I can do to champion the cause and further it, I will, shy of getting arrested.”

RiaNovosti is also reporting that Symmonds is the first athlete to publicly criticize Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay propaganda laws while on Russian soil. Several news outlets are speculating whether Symmonds words, as careful as they were,  put him at risk of being arrested.

About the author

Will Kohler has written 6658 articles on this blog.

Will Kohler is a noted LGBT historian, writer, blogger and owner of Back2Stonewall.com. A longtime gay activist, Will fought on the front lines of the AIDS epidemic with ACT-UP and continues fighting today for LGBT acceptance and full equality. Will’s work has been referenced in notable media venues as MSNBC and BBC News, The Washington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Hollywood Reporter, Raw Story, and The Huffington Post

• Google+