Roll over Beethoven … and tell Tchaikovsky the news

Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 | 2 a.m.

The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune:

“Truth be told, we don’t love him because of that, but he was a great musician and we all love his music. So what?” — Vladimir Putin

Oh my, Russia is going to have its hands full next year trying to avoid embarrassment when the world comes to Sochi for the Winter Olympics. Latest evidence: Vladimir Putin’s Seinfeldian “not that there’s anything wrong with that” moment last week in an interview with the Associated Press and Russian television.

Putin assured the interviewers that his people adore their renowned 19th-century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ... even if Tchaikovsky was gay.

You can expect a lot of that during the Olympics in February. Almost from the moment that Putin in July signed the vague new law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” directed at minors, Russia has been on the defensive.

Gay activists called for a boycott of Russian vodka and other goods. Lady Gaga rallied her fans on Twitter to protest the Russian laws. President Barack Obama blasted Russia during an appearance on Jay Leno. British leaders say they will press Russia during the G20 summit on whether athletes will be at risk of prosecution.

Two of Russia’s top female athletes exchanged a kiss on the winners’ podium after a relay event in Moscow. Rumors exploded that the women were protesting their country’s new law. The kiss was just a kiss, the women insisted — an expression of affection between friends and competitors.

Swedish athlete Emma Green Tregaro painted her nails with rainbow colors at the same competition in Moscow. She was told to repaint her nails red, and she did — but not before she snapped a picture of her rainbow nails and shared it with fans on social media.

And now Putin has had to assure the world that Olympic athletes won’t face arrest under the laws ... and that Tchaikovsky was A-OK.

Calls for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics have subsided, and that’s good. A boycott would deny an opportunity to some of the world’s best athletes. And it would cast a shadow over what promises to be a fascinating stage.

In the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the great track and field star Jesse Owens won four gold medals ... and profoundly embarrassed Adolf Hitler, who wanted the Olympic Games to showcase Nazi Germany and his belief in Aryan supremacy.

Gay and straight athletes will compete in Sochi. Some will win medals. We don’t know if they’ll use the occasion of an Olympic ceremony to protest the Russian law. We do feel confident the athletes will be safe: Russia has scrambled to assure the world that Olympic athletes won’t be prosecuted under the new law.

Some athletes may paint their toenails in rainbow colors. Some may wave rainbow flags. Who knows, some may hum the 1812 Overture.

Some may, like Jesse Owens, just win gold. Poor Vladimir.