Anti-Discrimination Clause Added to Olympic Host City Agreement

After the debacle that was the public image of the Sochi Olympics this year, the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, is finally taking steps to ensure that everyone feels welcome at future games.

Beginning with the host chosen for the 2022 Winter Olympics, cities will have to sign a legal document saying they will adhere to the sixth fundamental principal of Olympism, which states:

“Any form of discrimination with regards to a country or person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.”

Though the exact text has yet to be seen, and a type of punishment discussed for violators, especially if, as in Russia’s case, they pass discriminatory legislation after they’ve been selected a host city, it shows a massive step in the right direction. The three candidates for the 2022 Winter Games are Oslo, Beijing, or Almaty (Kazakhstan). Only one of these cities, Oslo, has progressive laws protecting LGBT people.

"[This] sends a clear message to future host cities that human rights violations, including those against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, will not be tolerated," Andre Banks, co-founder and executive director of All Out, told the Chicago Tribune. AllOut is counting this as a success after they handed over a petition with over 300,000 signatures to the IOC demanding the rules be changed so that future host cities would not be allowed to discriminate against any group.