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Ian Thorpe comes out


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Sydney Morning Herald: Ian Thorpe reveals he is gay

Well, I am not astonished - it is good that he decided to "do it"

Thomas Hitzelsperger came out earlier this year - he played 52 times in the German football national team - he is one of the "specialists" on German TV, who are talking about the WC...

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They"ve been promoting the hell out of the interview on TV all week, coyly teasing us with Parky shown asking the big question then telling us to tune in on Sunday.

I'm in two minds about it. As someone who was closeted ( well, didn't even accept that I might be gay myself) till my thirties, I'm supportive that it's no-one's business but your own what your sexuality is, and whether you should come out if you are. It shouldn't matter.

On the other hand, with Thorpie it's been such an open whisper for so long (we in the media have always known the open secret - I know a few journos who've "known it for sure"') but he has been aggressively vehement in his denials and threats of legal action to anyone who suggested he was. That's been hypocrisy IMO. No "no comments", just flat and vehement denials. And it shouldn't have mattered - he's been such a star for us, Aussies would have always supported and embraced him - and a revelation in earlier years when he was still at his height might have made a big difference to young gays struggling with acceptance and self worth.

Guess I'm just a little sad either way.

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Well it is done- good for him.

For me it became obvious about 5 years ago when he said he wasn't gay and that he had dated a certain prominent sportswomen, and when they asked her she said 'I might of met him once'...ouch. I thought why would he lie about that?

I grew up near Ian, and it is rough part of Sydney, where being gay would have been tough. He was so young when thrust into the spotlight, it would have been hard finding your sexuality in the headlights like that.

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I'm sure it is a huge relief for him - however after years of quite strident denial (plus the fact (as Rols stated) it has been about as secret as Darren Haye's homosexuality was...) it is just a little too late and hollow to have any real impact.

So yay for Ian but it is a real shame how he has behaved over the years. The sponsors are long gone. The glory days a decade ago. And yet he denied, denied, denied. It comes across in retrospect that he was either ashamed or afraid - neither of wish should be overly celebrated. I suppose he has a long career ahead as a Mardi Gras co host and Olympic commentator but he has does not have my respect or the respect of many others.

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The interview doesn't air until tonight - however the "leaked" info seems to be he wasn't confident enough etc etc


Quick addition - I don't mean to make it sound so flippant. I understand how hard the process of self-acceptance is and what a struggle it must be to come out to your family/friends - I just believe his constant denials has done more harm than good.

I can't help but feel he was ashamed of himself - and that is really sad.

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I have a gay sister. I have gay friends. I do "understand" - I may not have experienced it first hand though.

The deep internal stuff - you are right - it is guess work at best for me. I have seen friends be torn apart by the coming out process and it must be hard. Then again my sister let us all know when she was 14 that she wasn't into men and no-one really gave a sh!t and to this day I doubt any member of my immediate family givens two fuckking hoots what or whom any of us are sleeping with (as long as they are of legal age). I know this attitude is rare though.

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Yeah, good for Ian. While I agree that his sexuality is his business, the way he so aggressively denied it for years to the point of lashing out about it was ridiculous. We have to remember that this guy battled depression for a while, so clearly the debate about his sexuality was eating away at him. There has to have been some sort of influence around him that made him ashamed or embarrassed to be gay, to the point that he even contemplated suicide. His situation is very sad, but it's just an example of a serious issue that many young people face; Ian just happened to be a famous athlete. I can't empathize with him or other gay people but from an outsider's view, that's my two cents.

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Totally missed that "news".

And you know what? That is a very good thing. For me it is not special. Gay people are not different, they´re not special in our society.

Even Thomas Hitzlspergers coming-out in January (as CAF mentioned) wasn´t really long in the news. They talked about it for a few days

in several talk-shows and thats it.

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Yes, good on him for coming out now, none of our business though.

And I disagree with what Rols said, it's unfortunate that the additional pressure has to fall on him to help struggling gay teenagers out there. I understand that it would have helped confused teenagers and people struggling with their sexuality, however, he himself was clearly struggling with it and he wasn't ready to come out.

I can't help but feel he was ashamed of himself - and that is really sad.

I think that he was ashamed and couldn't handle it himself til now. He's clearly struggled with his inner demons for a long time now and i'm sure trying to hide this for over a decade hasn't helped.

Good on him for coming out now, either way, don't really feel that it's any of our business.

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And I disagree with what Rols said, it's unfortunate that the additional pressure has to fall on him to help struggling gay teenagers out there. I understand that it would have helped confused teenagers and people struggling with their sexuality, however, he himself was clearly struggling with it and he wasn't ready to come out.

The point is, he didn't have to come out. I'm the first to say, from experience, that it's an individual's right to come out or not. Nobody should be forced or involuntarily outed. But it's another thing to so aggressively and angrily over the years deny it, and even attack anyone or organisation who suggested it. For all the reasons Puppy stated.

But then again, okay, I can't really cast stones. I can't say that in my years leading up to coming out, I didn't at times externalise my inner demon struggles by homophobic gibes and such. I guess Thorpie's earlier denials have also preyed on his mind and made it harder for him to come clean.

I guess, kudos to him. He's now done what all of us who've struggled with our sexual identity and accepted it finally get to the point of doing - taking a deep breath, steeling ourselves for the worst, and stepping out to face the music - only to find it's not as scary on the other side as we dreaded.

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Good for Ian, I hope he is at peace with himself.

In regard to some of his issues, I once read that he was in New York on 9/11 and if he hadn't forgotten his camera, he may well have been in the WTC when the planes hit. I wonder if he might have been dealing with some sort of survivors remorse. That had to be traumatic.

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Now a bit more of my two cents worth: Puppy, you said that his constant denials have done Ian Thorpe more harm than good, and those are my feelings exactly.

I somewhat could always relate to him, because he's only five days younger than me and just like me, he seems to be a rather pensive, sensitive and intelligent person who is interested in a lot of different things also beyond his actual line of work. And I simply liked him because of those qualities outside of the pool. The irony of it all is that him and me not only share the same birth month and some main characteristics, but also the sexual orientation. And while I somewhat struggled with my orientation as well right until age 30 (when I decided to out myself completely), I was always a bit appalled by the way how Ian dealt with his.

It would have been perfectly fine if he had dealt more elegantly with the "Are you gay?" questions, more discreetly, more cleverly. But as Roland already pointed out, he made a vehement denial time and time again. I didn't even know until now that he even threatened with legal action, which appalls me even more. He simply treated his homosexuality as if it was something dirty and immoral. And with that, he has given a bad example and probably that all was grist to the mills of all those homophobes out there and a disservice to those gay girls and boys who admired him as a sports icon and who maybe struggle with their sexuality themselves.

Saying this, I of course know about the difficult environment Ian was in during his heyday as athlete. Of course he was afraid of losing sponsors or public support - as unfounded as this might have been, I can relate very well to that feeling, even as a non-athlete. And yes, probably it was also difficult for him due to the surroundings he grew up in. But on the other hand, one has to raise the question why he simply didn't make it public right after his heyday was over, just like Thomas Hitzlsperger did last winter.

Instead, we read stories and saw images of Ian doing very obviously gay stuff over all those years: Taking huge interest in fashion and wearing some flamboyant hairstyles, rolling his eyes and showing some other gay mimics or gestures while talking, taking a swim in the sea with that hot Brazilian swimmer Daniel Mendes who was sold to us as his "mate" and "training buddy" and so on. And the more I saw of that while hearing or reading his continueing denials, the more I got angry about it - as one could read from my comments on this board, when I asked whom Ian is still trying to fool.

In the end, all this sad story of years and years of denial probably only shows how complicated homosexuality can (but not has to) be for the persons concerned. I respect his personal circumstances and problems which led to his denials - but I would still say that the way he dealt with the issue and the way he is dealing with it now (with that in-your-face "Goddammit, would you please all watch the Parkinson interview in which Ian Thorpe finally reveals that he likes men????" strategy) was/is unnecessary and disappointing.

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I understand, and have shared that anger over what I've called his hypocrisy earlier earlier today for a long time.

But I've been thinking a lot over the whole notion of coming out today, and discussed it a lot with my partner. And now I'm watching the actual interview. And I gotta say I think he's being candid, honest about his lies and the reasons for them, and a lot of what he's saying rings true and is striking a chord for both my partner and me. It helps that he's obviously always been eloquent and educated, and he's prepared himself well for the interview, but I will say he's regained a lot of respect from me.

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I have a gay sister. I have gay friends. I do "understand" - I may not have experienced it first hand though.

The deep internal stuff - you are right - it is guess work at best for me. I have seen friends be torn apart by the coming out process and it must be hard. Then again my sister let us all know when she was 14 that she wasn't into men and no-one really gave a sh!t and to this day I doubt any member of my immediate family givens two fuckking hoots what or whom any of us are sleeping with (as long as they are of legal age). I know this attitude is rare though.

It is a rare attitude. Coming to terms with your sexuality depending on your home environment can be very hard. I have decided not to tell by family I'm bi because they are ultra conservative. Now in the Thorpedo's case you throw in a whole nation that loves you, sponsors paying you tons, etc. I can see how that could be a tough scenario. You don't know what the reaction will be, you have no idea if sponsors will stop coming. That is a tough decision for a teen/twenty year old to make.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very brave front he put on in last night's Opening Ceremony as a flag bearer. Seemed to have the look of relief on his face after the audience reaction to his announcement as Oceania representative.

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