Homophobia is a health hazard, not just for Ian Thorpe
Ian Thorpe coming out as gay during an interview with Michael Parkinson last night was both the most ordinary of stories and the most extraordinary. It also showed how deeply homophobia is ingrained in Australian society.
It was ordinary because, over the last 20 years, my colleagues and I have documented stories just like it. And it was extraordinary because Thorpe felt he was unable to come out earlier despite his high profile.
There’s no question that homophobia is a health hazard and one that we’ve been slow to address. The depression and despair so powerfully described by Thorpe prevents young people from reaching out for help, out of fear of losing their attachment to family and friends, which they feel may be conditional on ignorance about their sexuality.
An ordinary story
In two recent surveys, high levels of depression and suicide ideation were found to be part of the history of gay people of all ages and very much related to their shared history of everyday abuse and violence.
Gay men, in particular, are exposed to violence and the messages that accompany it as part of a rigorous policing of masculinity that begins in schools and may continue throughout their lives.
Research shows harsh and neglectful school environments, where homophobic abuse flourishes and large numbers of same-sex attracted young people experience anxiety, depression and suicide ideation. In fact, suicide contemplation rises in exact proportion to the amount of abuse suffered.
Move all this into the hyper-masculine sporting arena and no wonder Ian Thorpe felt part of his essential self had to be hidden to ensure his safety, perhaps even annihilated to prevent public disgrace.
He would have been under no illusion that the constant media badgering for confirmation of his sexuality would not have been to celebrate it, but rather to create a scandal.
An extraordinary story
But this is also the most extraordinary of stories because Ian Thorpe offered the Australian public so much, in the highly revered area of sporting accomplishment. Surely, he, of all people, should have felt the Australian people would forgive him this one thing.
I use the word forgive deliberately because despite the somewhat ho-hum reaction to Thorpe’s revelation in the press and social media today, it’s still difficult to escape the prevailing notion in Australia that being gay is bad news, that it is evidence of being somehow lesser.
Consider the related story of football commentator Brian Taylor’s casual description of Harry Taylor as “a big poofterâ€Â, which is at least as big a story this morning as Thorpe’s coming out.
His rap on the knuckles (being sent home to watch the football rather than to call it) is a sign that these days we understand it’s not okay to publicly berate gay people. Still, it was only a little rap, because most Australians also assume he didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
But hurt he would have, as gay people everywhere would have seen it as confirmation of this society’s deeply-held belief that nobody wants to be gay. Thorpe can be forgiven for not reading such remarks any differently.
Looking up
Today, the landscape for same-sex attracted young people is not nearly as bleak as it was in Thorpe’s youth. Social media has thrown closeted young people a lifeline that puts them in touch anonymously with others having, and working through similar doubts and fears.
It creates a rich virtual world to counteract the loneliness and hostility of their physical communities and helps them feel safe until they’re old enough to risk exposure.
Government funded anti-homophobia programs in schools are having a demonstrable impact on the mental health of young people who are not straight. But these initiatives are fragile and under constant attack.
Ian Thorpe’s revelation will have an impact. Hundreds of young people will relate to his story and draw on it to shape their own destinies. It certainly matters that he has a high profile and that the world didn’t end when he spoke up.
Just as he has inspired a generation of young swimmers to go swifter, higher, stronger so will his openness inspire other young people to work towards an authentic self.
The challenge for us as a society is to move beyond the big-hearted, open-minded response of “it doesn’t matter to me if he’s gay, he’s still a great sportsman†to a response of genuine celebration. By coming out, Thorpe has given more of himself as a gift to the Australian public, and shown leadership he was afraid to embrace in the past.
Nothing will land in the trophy room to recognise this achievement, but lives will be saved. And it will be step towards Australia becoming a nation where that matters.
Do openly gay public figures like Ian Thorpe matter? They sure do
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Money aside, Thorpe’s revelation will pay dividends
- Date
The truth: swimmer Ian Thorpe being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. Photo: Channel Ten
As a gay man, I couldn’t be happier for Ian Thorpe. As a journalist, I have misgivings of his outing as a homosexual with legendary interviewer Michael Parkinson, and its timing.
It does not rest well that Thorpe has decided to talk publicly about his sexuality as part of a reported $550,000 deal with Channel Ten that will see him call swimming at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this month.
That deal was hatched by his agent James Erskine, who also manages Parkinson.
Thorpe has had the opportunity to set the record straight on many occasions.
His message from the Parkinson interview has been cheapened by the fact it is part of a lucrative deal – and comes following reports in recent years of Thorpe’s financial troubles.
The chance to set the truth free, with dignity, has been there for Thorpe for years.
Indeed, the first chance Thorpe had to tell the truth came in 2003, when he sat down with my late, great editor at Inside Sport,Greg Hunter.
After finishing his long tenure at the monthly sport’s magazine, Greg was thrust into the role of biographer, and then spent a year toiling over Thorpe’s story.
Greg was the ultimate professional and perfectionist. His editing of profile pieces often left this reporter on the verge of tears.
He was torn about the chapter concerning Thorpe’s sexuality. Specifically, he was concerned about a “Cheryl Kernot†situation.
In 2002, the former leader of the Democrats had published her biography, but it had failed to include one particular detail.
Soon after, Laurie Oakes revealed in his weekly column in The Bulletin that Kernot had failed to mention her extramarital affair while leader of the Democrats with former Labor frontbencher Gareth Evans.
But Greg’s concern went deeper than that.
We discussed Thorpe, at length, on numerous occasions, not least because I was coming to terms with my own sexuality. Greg had been a rock in this time, such was his altruistic manner.
Is Ian Thorpe gay? So many people had asked me, as a sports reporter, if I knew the answer.
I didn’t know. I was staring at the ceiling at night wondering why I was and how I was going to tell my father.
I just knew that if he was gay, and was denying it as much as I had, grappling with the truth, then I felt sorry for him.
In the end, Greg looked Thorpe in the eye, believed his version of events, and then passionately argued with anyone who dared to suggest the young swimmer was anything but heterosexual.
After the book was published, Thorpe told Alan Jones on 2GB he hadn’t read it. It subsequently tanked.
The myth of Thorpe’s heterosexuality was also perpetuated by many of his minders at that time. They fed the line that Thorpe was very much a ladies’ man, in every sense, and laughed at suggestions otherwise.
Maybe those minders were protecting the pot of gold otherwise known as Thorpe Inc.
Thorpe told Parkinson the fear of commercial reprisals stopped him, in part, from coming out sooner.
He is right.
Ian Roberts, the retired rugby league player who came out in 1995, often laughs at the mere notion of the “pink dollarâ€Â.
Whatever misgivings you or I might have about Thorpe’s paid coming-out, it should not diminish the importance or significance of our greatest Olympian telling “the world” that he is gay.
Many have shrugged their shoulders in recent days and said, “So what? How is Thorpe’s sexuality anyone’s business? Who cares?”
Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham is right: Thorpe’s public declaration will save lives.
It will make it easier for those who are struggling to come to terms with who they are and where they fit in this world. Thorpe remains outrageously popular, despite his indifference towards being a public figure.
Of all the commentary written in the last few days, two lines stand out.
Said comic Tom Ballard in his column for Fairfax Media on Sunday: “For those who’ve heard this news and shrug and casually asks ‘who cares?’, I’d simply answer ‘15-year-old closeted me’. Scared, little, questioning Tom Ballard would have cared a lot if nine years ago he’d seen swimming champion and national treasure Ian Thorpe on the news, proudly identifying as a successful sportsman and a bloke who liked blokes.â€Â
And this, from Rob Stott at news.com.au, about criticism that Thorpe has “lied†to us for years, including in his 2012 biography: “He was on his own deeply personal journey. A journey that even the most open-minded, tolerant person can’t understand until they’ve been through it themselves.â€Â
That Thorpe is dealing with this now, at the age of 31, illuminates how far Australian society still has to go, and it extends beyond the Prime Minister’s backward thinking about same-sex marriage.
Because it’s not easy taking a stand – whether you are paid for it or not.
A month after I came out on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald late last year in response to Knights player Ryan Stig’s comparison between homosexuality and the work of the devil, I was having a beer at a Surry Hills pub.
A Sydney FC game was on that night, and many of its fans had filled the bar.
“Webster, you f..king faggot,†sneered one of them as I walked outside.
When I spun around and came back in and asked who’d said it, nobody had a word to say.
Who cares? I do.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/swimming/money-aside-thorpes-revelation-will-pay-dividends-20140714-zt6tw.html#ixzz37iiNFFca
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A fair go means just that – for all
Ian Thorpe’s sexuality is his own business, but his long struggle to freely admit to being gay is not unique. Young gay and lesbian teenagers often disguise, or even deny, their sexuality because of a crushing fear that they will pay a social cost. Mr Thorpe, a five-time Olympic gold medallist and tremendous competitor, feared Australians would not embrace a gay champion. He hid the truth and paid a deep personal price with depression, alcohol abuse and thoughts of suicide.
His apprehension cannot really come as a surprise when confronted with the type of foolish outburst made by Channel Seven broadcaster Brian Taylor at the weekend, who stupidly branded an AFL player a ”great big poofter”.
Puerile remarks of this kind regularly pass for humour in AFL circles. Despite efforts in recent years to tackle homophobia within the code, that not a single AFL player openly admits to being gay speaks of the cultural barriers the sport still has to overcome.
Mr Thorpe has displayed courage equal to any feat in the pool by speaking out in a television interview about his private life. He carries an extra burden of fame, shown as he reflected on his career. ”I should be having the time of my life, and I’m not,” he said.
The turmoil he felt about publicly admitting he was homosexual was obvious. ”What happened was I felt the lie had become so big that I didn’t want people to question my integrity.” He was first asked by the media when only 16 years of age whether he was gay.
It must now be hoped he will have plenty of support from family, colleagues and friends to deal with his personal trials. But many gay and lesbian Australians suffer alone. The wider community must do more to provide support.
Attitudes are slowly shifting. It is encouraging that so many people swiftly criticised Mr Taylor for his ill-judged remark, and that he duly apologised. At the very least, this shows that the permissive acceptance of homophobia is fading.
But while some have regarded Mr Thorpe’s acknowledgement of his sexuality as confirmation of what was widely suspected, that would be to miss the point of his action.
There is no point pretending that Australia does not have a long way to go in properly confronting prejudice against homosexuals. Just as the political debate about same-sex marriage has given a disturbing licence to bigotry, some people in our community feel a need to suppress their identity.
That is not the egalitarian Australia we promise. It is time for our society to grow up enough for people to be honest about themselves at no cost.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-editorial/a-fair-go-means-just-that–for-all-20140714-3bx3z.html#ixzz37ijEsPO5
After I had watched the interview, I said that the homosexual community is going to milk this for all that it is worth. I was right from day one and this woman has jumped on the Thorpe bandwagon to get her pound of flesh.
Much of what she has said is non sequitur as it has been said before and there is very little truth in it. Most of the claims of the homosexual zealots are based on lies.
She talks about homophobia being ingrained. I cannot see for the life of me how accepting or rejection homosexuality reveals an inordinate fear of homosexuality and homosexuals. I reject it because it is not part of God’s design for mankind. But to say I fear it and homosexuals is complete rubbish. I have no more fear of homosexuality or homosexuals that I have a fear of getting up in the morning.
She claims that depression and suicide amongst homosexuals is due to the non-acceptance of them. That may be true to an extent but the cause of it is more to do with the rejection that they suffer from their own kind. I did a study of this at University and presented a paper to the government on the subject. She conveniently forgets to point out this fact.
She talks about homosexual men exposed to violence but avoids the unacceptable fact that per head of population homosexual men suffer more violence from their homosexual partners than the general public. I am a retired school teacher and in the three schools I taught at, there was not one case of aggression towards homosexuals. That may be due to the fact that they were religious schools. Surprise, surprise.
As far as Thorpe hiding his homosexuality as a sportsman there have been many who have not hidden their homosexuality. Have they suffered as a result? NO. A case of making a mountain out of a molehill.
Regarding the media creating a scandal about his sexuality, she could not be so wrong. The Main Stream media or as I call them, the Lame Stream Media celebrate all things homosexual and they would have lauded Thorpe and praised his efforts and achievements and placed them firmly at the feet of his sexuality. If you want to know the truth, you have to go to the alternative media.
Greg Louganis or Mathew Mitcham was not treated as pariahs by the media, so why should Thorpe?
The public forgive Thorpe this one thing? What a strange comment when we are told ad infinitum that you are born homosexual (which you are not) and that homosexuality is normal. If that is the case, what is there to forgive?
The storm in a teacup over the “big poofter” comment is ridiculous in the extreme. I was born a pommy. Do I take umbrage if someone calls me that? I have got better things to do with my time than to jack up every time someone says something that is not politically correct. And as for being hurt if someone calls someone else a pommy, that is the joke of the day.
Authentic self? ‘Fraid not as authentic self for everyone is in the male/female identity. Not the homosexual one. That is a cruel hoax perpetrated by people who cannot face up to reality.
Genuine celebration? The only time that happened for me is when my children were born because you need a male and a female to have your own children. Thorpe will never experience that so any celebration will be very hollow.
As for saving lives, that could be an albatross around his neck if more young people follow Ian’s example and take up homosexuality as the life span of homosexuals is about 20 years shorter than normal people.
The saddest thing is that a supposedly Christian site has given credibility to an article that is mainly lies. Shame on you.