In an interview with Jay Leno on NBC’s tonight show, US President Barack Obama made the following assertions:
“I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays and lesbians and transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.
“Every judgement should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it.
“I think they (The Russian state) understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn’t tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently.
“When I travelled to Africa, there were some countries that are doing a lot of good things for their people, who we’re working with and helping on development issues, but in some cases have persecuted gays and lesbians. And it makes for some uncomfortable press conferences sometimes.”
In his interview, Leno compared the Russian Government’s actions to the Nazi’s persecution of the Jews, gays and lesbians and other selected groups that led to the holocaust.
The interview can be seen here