As Russia's anti-gay laws continue to take a toll on public perception of the upcoming 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the host nation's government is trying to reassure the International Olympic Committee that members of the gay and lesbian community will be safe during the Olympics. However, Russia is still defending its "gay propaganda" law.

The official website of the Olympics released a statement Thursday to announce that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak wrote an encouraging, yet contradictory letter to the committee.

"Russia has committed itself to comply strictly with the provisions of the Olympic Charter and its fundamental principles, according to item 6 of which "any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement," the letter said.

However, it has been reported that Kozak also said that the law still applies to everyone and "cannot be regarded as discrimination based on sexual orientation." Due to the vague nature of the law, the question remains whether Olympic athletes and fans will be able to make public gestures of support for LGBT people.

The homophobic policies in Russia have drawn significant criticism from all corners of the globe, including the United States. President Barack Obama and American Olympic athletes have already made statements expressing their displeasure with the law.

"Nobody is more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation than you've been seeing in Russia," Obama said.

Obama also said on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno that he has "no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them."

Athlete Nick Symmonds recently dedicated his silver medal to the LGBT community after participating in the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow. Symmonds was the first athlete to publicly criticize Russia's laws while on Russian soil.

"Whether you're gay, straight, black, white, we all deserve the same rights," Symmonds said. "If there's anything I can do to champion the cause and further it, I will, shy of getting arrested. I respect Russians' ability to govern their people. I disagree with their laws. I do have respect for this nation. I disagree with their rules."