WATCH: Rachel Maddow Goes Off on Antigay NOM Meddling in Russia

Out MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow laid into the spate of anti-LGBT laws in Russia on her eponymous show last night, digging deep into the roots of Russia's homophobia. 

Before dissecting Russia's ban on "propaganda of nontraditional relationships," and the law prohibiting gay and lesbian couples — or even single people from nations that embrace marriage equality — from adopting Russian orphans, not to mention the law currently before the State Duma that would remove biological and adopted children from their gay and lesbian parents, Maddow turned her attention to the 2014 Winter Olympics, which will begin in February in Sochi, Russia. 

Reporting about the three times the Olympic torch has been extinguished since it began its relay through the country on Monday, Maddow had the same critique The Advocate did earlier this week about the Russian torch-bearers' colorful costumes. 

"Russia, seriously? Using the rainbow flag as your outfit for your rainbow Olympic torch-bearers?" asked Maddow, incredulous. "The rainbow flag? Russia? Seriously?" 

But then Maddow did get serious, turning her attention to the overwhelming evidence of right-wing American influence in Russia's increasingly violent antigay climate. 

“It turns out, actually, the antigay American right has been more than applauding Russia and Vladimir Putin as they enact all these antigay laws that they want here too … the antigay right has also been helping Russia do this," explained Maddow, before turning to research from Right Wing Watch that suggests Brian Brown, the president of the antigay National Organization for Marriage, visited the Russian parliament just weeks before it passed the ban on so-called propaganda and the adoption ban. 

Watch the entire segment below.

Like SheWired on Facebook 

Follow SheWired on Twitter