Pride flag might fly at Edmonton's city hall during Sochi Olympics

The pride flag might fly over Edmonton’s city hall during the Winter Olympics, following the example of several other Canadian cities showing solidarity with LGBT people in Russia.

Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and St. John’s are among the cities that have already announced that the rainbow flag will fly over their respective city halls during the Winter Olympics. 

The Kremlin passed a law in late June that makes it illegal to spread "propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations" to minors, under threat of steep fines.

Riyaz Sharan tweeted at Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson on Twitter Thursday night, mentioning the move and asking if Edmonton would also be following suit.

The mayor tweeted back. “Working on it... Thanks for the heads up.”

“Edmonton is a human right city and I think it’s important for us to stand in solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters in Russia,” said Dr, Kristopher Wells, director of programs and services at the Institute of Sexual Minority Studies at the University of Alberta.

Wells says Iveson’s tweet gives him hope. 

“I saw a tweet that came back from Don Iveson that said he was working on it, so we are hopeful.” he said. “It certainly represents Edmonton and all that we stand for…it’s a chance for people around the world to see us standing up for human rights and standing on the right side of history.”

Activists have viewed this as a positive step against Russia’s discriminatory actions against the LGBT community.

Google’s in theme ‘doodle’ was also widely shared Friday night. The image showed the rainbow flag featuring athlete silhouettes above a quote from the Olympic charter which read:

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."