U.S. State Department Alert: Travel to Olympics with Caution, Especially LGBT Community

Simply getting to Russia has been a monstrous challenge for many of those wishing to be present at next month's Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

It now appears those difficulties aren't limited to just securing accommodations, especially for those in the LGBT community.

The U.S. Department of State posted a travel alert last Friday cautioning American travelers, gays in particular, to be aware of the variety of regulations the Russian government has in place restricting the demonstration of freedom of sexuality.

The message pointed out that the host nation maintains a law banning what it deems to be the promotion of "gay propaganda," and breaking this statute or any other anti-LGBT laws can result in heavy fines and a possible two-week jail sentence.

"Russian authorities have indicated a broad interpretation of what constitutes LGBT propaganda, and provided vague guidance as to what actions will be interpreted by authorities as LGBT propaganda," U.S. security officials warned in the doctrine.

The State Department also made sure to inform all western-travelers that deadly attacks are a definite possibility in the Olympic country, especially in the city of Sochi which is located in the incident-heavy North Caucasus region.

"The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens planning to attend the 2014 Olympic Games that they should remain attentive regarding their personal security at all times," the mandate said. "Acts of terrorism, including bombings and hostage takings, continue to occur in Russia."

LGBT issues have quickly become a burning topic surrounding the competition, stemming in large part to the United States' widely-criticized decision to include four gay athletes as part of the nation's Sochi delegation.

In addition, Buzzfeed is reporting this morning the U.S. Olympic Committee is taking additional heat following comments made earlier this week by Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun imploring athletes not to protest Russia's anti-LGBT laws next month.

"They're there to compete. They're not there to talk about their politics or their religion or anything else," Blackmun told ESPN. "When they get to the games, that's really time to focus on sport."

Whether athletes or gay-rights activists choose to protest the controversial Russian laws at the games remains to be seen, but the United States wants to be certain it's citizens and its athletes are aware to be extremely cautious before doing anything perceived to be out-of-line in the former communist nation.

You can read the entire alert released by the U.S. Department of State by clicking HERE.