Graeme Obree, the 45-year-old Scottish cycling world champion who built his famous “Old Faithful” bike from washing machine parts, has come out in a newspaper interview. Obree reveals he twice tried taking his own life (in 1998 and again in 2001) as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality, including an attempted hanging 19 years ago, where a local sheriff cut him down from a tree. “I was brought up thinking you’d be better dead than gay,” he says. “I must have known I was gay and it was so unacceptable.” After starting therapy in 2005, Obree came out to his now-former wife and kids, and his parents. “It did create a bit of tension. … I was brought up by a war generation; they grew up when gay people were put in jail. Being homosexual was so unthinkable that you just wouldn’t be gay. I’d no inkling about anything, I just closed down.”
redball
Didn’t read the original article but it sounds like 3 suicide attempts to me, not 2: 19 yrs ago, 1998, and 2001.
Poor guy. Glad he came through it all in the end.
And the carnage, suffering, and scars wreaked by homophobia continue….
justiceontherocks
Living a lie (staying in the closet) is never the right solution. I’m sure the rest of Obree’s life will be much happier.
Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England)
Some people make it so much worse for themselves then the actual reality of what it is by living in a little bubble.
You hurt yourself more then others ever will.
He was a world winner, surely,he must’ve tried to read up more about stuff, like I’m sure when he first saw a black man in the Olympics, he figured what he was taught in his backward scottish highland home town was just that,small minded and backward with NO relevance to a progressive society.
But that’s the thing with people who try to do this, they are usually inherently Conservative minded, so also think that it is WRONG to feel like this.
kayla
@Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England): It’s my big pet peeve…sorry, but I can’t help myself…Even though I know correcting you will make me seem like a douche…which I am…But “then” is used in a timeline…eg. I ate breakfast, THEN I took a shower…while “than” is used when comparing one thing to another…eg. He is taller THAN his brother….just saying….
Eysteinn
the photo is of actor Johnny Lee Miller, playing Graeme Obree in the biopic movie “The Flying Scotsman”, shouldn’t Queerty better post a photo of the person this article stub is actually about?
Nick Name
Couldn’t you have found a picture of Obree himself rather than the guy who plays him in the movie?
Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England)
@kayla:
then/than
I feel your pain but it won’t change-soz. But I will try! Me on the net multi-tasking etc and just writting off on blogs….my spelling,grammar is very poor..
But if its any consolation, in my day to day living, I’m doing a masters and try to not treat my essays with the same flippancy that I do commenting on Queerty! 🙂
McMike
How f’n stupid are the people who work at Queerty??? Lay off the pipes if you guys can’t post a picture of the guy. I mean, there are endless grammar mistakes but posting a picture of an actor who played Obree is pathetic.
Here’s a picture of him:
http://www.murphysedinburgh.com/01FOLDER/The%20Edinburgh%20International%20Film%20Festival%202006/IMG_3014.JPG
Anon
I feel sorry for his ex- wife and kids.
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@McMike:
[email protected]
@McMike: LMAO! So f-ing true!
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/Features/2006/aug06_feature_douglas_mackinnon.html
Jeeez, this blog is getting WORSE by the minute!
ForeverGay
Cheers for Obree!