A Russian news anchor who was fired after coming out on air spoke out against a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia Tuesday evening.


Anton Krasovsky told CNN's Becky Anderson that "Russian gay people need international support, but international support is not a boycott of Sochi Olympic games, because Olympic games is an international event. It's not a Russian event, it's not a personal event of Putin, it's an event of millions and millions of people ... 7 million people in Russia are gay. If you want to boycott Olympic games in Russia, you're trying to boycott 7 million gay people in Russia. You want to boycott me."


Krasovsky came out as gay in January during a live broadcast on KontrTV, a government-controlled network. According to the New York Times, he was fired immediately after his announcement.


During the broadcast, Krasovsky reportedly said, "I’m gay, and I’m just the same person as you, my dear audience, as president Putin, as prime minister Medvedev and deputies of our Duma." He later told the LA Times that the final straw was when he had to anchor a show a few days prior to his announcement, devoted to an anti-gay propaganda bill.


Following his announcement, "I get thousands of letters of support. Thousands. But only a few contain threats," he told the New Republic.


A new law in Russia bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations," and has led some activists to call for a boycott of the Olympic games.


U.S. President Barack Obama condemned Russia's legislation against gay people, though he argued against calls for the boycott.