LGBTQ civil rights demonstration 2014 Winter Olympics LGBTQ Rights Protests 2014 Winter Olympics LGBT Rights Protests During the lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, protests and campaigns arose surrounding the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Russia. Concerns for LGBTQ athletes and supporters during the Games began as early as March 2012, when a Russian judge blocked the establishment of a Pride House in Sochi, ruling that "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" would "undermine the security of Russian society", and that it conflicted with public morality and the country's policies "in the area of family motherhood and childhood protection." The majority of protests, however, centred on the passing of a law in June 2013, which banned the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors. The propaganda law had been characterized by the Western media and other critics as a ban on "gay propaganda", arguing that it was broad enough to ban any public display of LGBTQ symbols and suppress LGBTQ culture. The law itself was also considered to have caused an increase in homophobic violence, and an increase in the arrest of pro-LGBTQ protesters. LGBTQ rights protests surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics