LGBT News Ian Thorpe comes out as gay?

Ah, Ian Thorpe one of the first "celebs" I had a crush on - the Manchester Commonwealth Games were worth watching because of him, I'm the same age and height too (if only I had the bod ) and obviously growing up with the same stigma attached to being gay - an awful lot has changed here in the UK (and to a lesser extent in Australia) since the Sydney Olympics*. I can certainly understand the reaction of saying "no I'm no gay" when asked as avoiding the question was the same as saying Yes for many years.

* Although less than you think at times - a couple of years ago I plucked up the courage to go to Pride and the following morning I came downstairs with Ian Thorpe on the TV (commentating during London 2012) and the first words I heard from one of my house mates that morning "why do they allow f****ts like that on tv?" :rolleyes:

 

I don't think there is. They are just different tactics to acheive the same end result - convincing people you are not gay. On one hand you have Ricky Martin's more subtle technique of avoiding or deflecting questions so not to "self-incriminate" and on the other Ian Thorpe's direct approach simply stating "I'm not gay, but being gay's OK" to create an illusion of heterosexuality.

Both are methods of deception which are less than ideal but which the celebrities had every right to use under the circumstances (forceful questioning and the media spotlight on their lives). I see it as legitimate self defence.

Whilst in an ideal world everyone should be able to be open about themselves I don't hold it against celebrities who want or need privacy. Nobody should be forced to publicly come out in this manner and I am strongly against the media trying to out gay celebrities; it is barbaric.

---------- Post added 13th Jul 2014 at 08:50 AM ----------

To be fair to her she did state she regrets questioning Ricky so she has had at least some change of heart since.

But you are absolutely right, no celebrity should be asked this. It is intrusive and irrelevant.

 

so the facebook trend thingy about ian thorpe.

reading those comments make me sad. people are seriously arguing whether or not celebrities coming out should or should not be a headline... or how he got paid to come out publicly :/

amongst other subtle arguments they have I can't put them together because i just woke

 

Totally agree with you!!! cx

 

He's so tall and obviously works out...and he's Australian! yayyy! (!)(!)(!)

 

Wow. I had no clue. I just used the word beard as it is used in slang!

 

congrats on his coming out ride:

 

Good for him, I don't get people on EC that thinks he hot, he is ok I guess not that into him, oh well different tastes.

 

Congratulations on coming out Ian Thorpe I guess? Honestly I don't really care much I'm happy for him sure

If Kristen Stewart came out as Lesbian on the other hand.. I would probably be really happy because I like her as an actress.. and she's super cute! Unfortunately she seems to suffer from anxiety so it would be extremely hard for her to come out if she IS a Lesbian. Not only will she come out and face some discrimination but on top of that i'm pretty sure she suffers from anxiety which would make things 1000x worse for her. I could be imagining things and she might not even be gay all I know is my ''gay'' alarm goes off when I watch interviews of her. I'm not proud of myself for assuming another persons sexuality since I hate it when people assume i'm ''straight'' but there is just something about Kristen Stewart that gets me suspicious.

Anyway.. Congrats to Ian Thorpe for coming out! :eusa_clap

 

Ok for him.
But I fail to see this as news worthy.
I mean... aren't we passed the "he's gay, she's gay" thing?
I think this type of media obsession with coming out makes it seem like famous people or famous athletes being gay should be somehow shocking, or hard to believe and a bit demoralizing of gay people.
it shouldn't matter one way or the other. This seems like petty gossip.
It would be nice for society to get over this very type of petty gossip thing.
its not like they are praising him for being gay.
Its more like OMG this great handsome athlete is "GAY"??? WTF
That attitude is not doing our community any good.