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<\/a>Welcome to Canada sign, Toronto Pearson International Airport. Photo: Cohen Canada<\/a>, Creative Commons, some rights reserved<\/p><\/div>\n Russia’s new laws curtailing the rights of gay people<\/a> within that country’s borders have generated significant push-back in parts of the world that support civil rights regardless of sexual orientation. There’s a loud and growing movement<\/a> to boycott Russian products like vodka, and calls to boycott the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. (There’s also a petition to shift the venue to Vancouver<\/a>, though that strikes me as utterly impossible for a variety of political, commercial and logistical reasons.)<\/p>\n No less than President Obama joined that chorus of outrage<\/a> in a recent TV appearance<\/a>. Meanwhile, this guest column from Forbes by Mark Adomanis<\/a>\u00a0points out that the U.S. routinely tolerates even harsher treatment of gays by other nations, such as Saudi Arabia. And that Russia can correctly point out that U.S. policy on gay rights is inconsistent across the 50 states.<\/p>\n Media reports in Canada<\/a> say official policy here is likely to welcome Russians seeking refugee status out of fear of persecution for being gay. (Applicants would still have to go through the process to be granted that status, obviously.)<\/p>\n Outspoken support for gay right<\/a>s<\/a> from Canada’s ruling conservative government is an interesting example of how being conservative in Canada differs from the general conservative positions in the U.S.<\/p>\n Some refugee claims from Russian gays have already been filed and more are expected<\/a>. Maxim Zhurvlev is one such claimant, who arrived in Canada two months ago:<\/p>\n “I feel that I’m protected. I feel that I can be myself. I don’t have be worried about violence,” Zhuravlev told CBC News.<\/p>\n “It is considered an honour for a Russian to harm or even kill a gay person. They will be honoured by society and tell everyone, ‘I killed a gay person.’ Everyone basically will be proud of that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A fair number of articles have come out in strong support of Canada’s public stance, such as this one from Mclean’s magazine: “Why Canada’s Jews should stand up for Russia’s gays: and the case for boycotting the Sochi Olympics<\/a>”<\/p>\n This post on the topic by Andy Radia<\/a> says Canada has already extended a similar welcome mat for about 100 gay Iranian refugees last year. (Here’s more on that<\/a> from the AP.)<\/p>\n Claimants will need to work through the refugee process stipulated by Citizenship and Immigration Canada<\/a>\u00a0and\/or the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada<\/a>. Some non-profit agencies are also deeply involved in refugee issues, such as the Canadian Council for Refugees<\/a>.<\/p>\n Older readers may well remember Canada as a safe haven for draft evaders in the 1960s and 70s. (President Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon<\/a> to such persons – wherever they were –\u00a0 in 1977.)<\/p>\n