had been named as part of the American Olympic delegation by President Barack Obama. The actions were widely seen as a response to the anti-gay laws enacted. 2014 (pre-Games) (10 January 2014) The U.S. State Department issued warnings for Americans traveling to the Olympics. Specifically for LGBT people it noted that "Russia has in place a law that bans the 'propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations' to minors. It said authorities have been vague about defining 'propaganda' and that the law applies to foreigners. A conviction on the charge could result in a fine, a jail term and deportation." (16 January 2014, or before) The annual "Orthodox Calendar" is released, featuring drawings of naked men, with some proceeds used to combat anti-LGBT laws in Russia. The calendar was created to criticize homophobic views in Eastern Orthodox communities and the former Soviet Union. (17 January 2014) Russian president Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with Olympic volunteers explained that their rainbow-colored uniforms were not considered violating the Kremlin's anti-LGBT initiatives because "We do not have a ban on non-traditional sexual relationships ... We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia." The rainbow flag and colors are an international symbol for LGBTQ communities. Conflating homosexuality with pedophilia has been a common practice in the opposition to the gay rights movement. In its Winter 2010 Intelligence Report the Southern Poverty Law Center noted that since the 1980s there has been organized efforts by "hard-line elements of the religious right searching for ways to demonize gay people — or, at a minimum, to find arguments that will prevent their normalization in society." These groups utilize anti-gay myths to "form the basis of its claim that homosexuality is a social evil that must be suppressed — an opinion rejected by virtually all relevant medical and scientific authorities." The SPLC notes these anti-gay myths "almost certainly contribute to hate crime violence directed at the LGBT community, which is more targeted for such attacks than any other minority group in America." (18 January 2014) A gay Russian protestor, Pavel Lebedev, was tackled and detained for unfurling a rainbow flag during the Olympic torch relay as it passed through his hometown of Voronezh, 506 miles north of Sochi. (See 23 January.) (23 January 2014) Olympics sponsor McDonald's launched a social media campaign #CheerstoSochi to offer well wishes to Olympians. The hashtag was quickly hijacked by activists who