Gay Rights Activists target the upcoming Winter Olympics at Sochi, in Russia, in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Gay Rights protests are expected to take place in 19 cities across the world as well as Sochi and St. Petersburg, and are targeted towards the sponsors of the event, beckoning them to speak out over Russia's anti-gay agenda.  

Sponsors targeted will include Samsung, Coca Cola and McDonalds to speak out against Russia's new law that bans the promotion of 'non-traditional' sexuality, such as homosexuality and prevents it from being spoken about to anyone under 18, which has widely been seen as a huge attack on Gay Rights.

 
Marie Campbell, a director at the equality campaign group All Out, told the BBC that the new Russian laws went against the spirit of the Olympics.

"All our members, as well as everyone else around the world, want to celebrate the Olympic values of personal strength and endurance and integrity," she said. US Olympic sponsors AT&T have spoken out in their corporate blog against sponsorship in the Winter Olympics and "against Russia's anti-LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] law". 


Russian Leader Vladimir Putin says he "Welcomes homosexuals to the games, as long as they leave the children alone."