Russia's anti-gay law attacked as Sochi Games near

With the Sochi Olympics six months away, U.S. President Barack Obama, British actor Stephen Fry and international gay rights group All Out have increased attention on Russia over its new anti-gay law.

The law, which was signed by President Vladimir Putin in June, bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" and had already seemed likely to spark protests until the end of the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games. The issue gained more momentum Wednesday as Moscow prepares to host International Olympic Committee leaders for meetings before the start of the athletics world championships on Saturday.

Obama cancelled a planned September meeting in the city with Putin in a diplomatic rebuke over Russia's harbouring of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, having also said in a television interview hours earlier that he had "no patience" with countries that discriminate against gay people.

"I think they [Putin and Russia] understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn't tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently," Obama said Tuesday to host Jay Leno on NBC's "The Tonight Show."

Fry went further in an open letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron and IOC President Jacques Rogge, comparing Putin's "barbaric, fascist law" to persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

"An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 in Sochi is simply essential," Fry wrote. "At all costs, Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilized world."

Fry's letter was delivered by All Out at Olympic headquarters in Lausanne along with a 320,000-name petition asking the IOC to denounce the law in Russia.

After a one-hour meeting with All Out campaigner Guillaume Bonnet, IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press that the Olympic body "cannot enter into political debate."

"Our challenge is to change the world through sport and in sport, and that is what we are doing," Adams said. "We very much respect and welcome gay athletes to the games. We will ensure to the best of our ability that people can come and compete and spectate free of discrimination."

Earlier this week, IOC board member Ser Miang Ng a presidential candidate to succeed Rogge next month suggested to reporters in London that Olympic officials were engaged in "quiet diplomacy" with the "highest authority" in Russia.

All Out's Bonnet noted that Rogge will soon be in Moscow, where the IOC has a joint board meeting and news conference with the IAAF athletics governing body on Friday.

"That is an amazing moment to take a strong stand and ensure the IOC is the guardian of Olympic principles," Bonnet told the AP. "The Olympics are an amazing opportunity to pressure Putin to remove the anti-gay law that is affecting all Russians' freedom of speech and legitimizing the anti-gay crackdown in Russia."

Whether Russia is willing to compromise could become more apparent Thursday, when sports minister Vitaly Mutko is scheduled to share a news conference platform at a Moscow hotel with Lamine Diack, the IAAF president and longtime IOC member.

Mutko raised concern last week among gay rights advocates with comments that the law would be enforced during the Sochi Games. It allows Russian authorities to impose fines for providing information about the gay community to minors or holding gay pride rallies. Foreign citizens potentially including athletes could be arrested, jailed for 15 days and then deported.