“I wish I had come out earlier.
You know I was [first] accused of being gay when… I think I was 16 at the time.
But because it was kind of like I was being accused of it, I’d always thought of it, as that being a bad thing.
It was really hard for me to tell my closest friends and family. And I mentioned to them, ‘do you know, I’m thinking of coming out on TV, just so it’s done’.
People were like, ‘maybe you should just get used to it first’. I was like, ‘no. I will… no I’m going to do it’. I was able to be the kind of person who I am. And you know, that’s really a kind of powerful thing to have.
It’s weird, because [gay people] even have to think about, you know, do we hold hands or not? And we should be holding hands.
I think it’s important to have marriage equality in this country, and I think it’s important for it to happen now.
I know what it was like to grow up as a young person, like a second-class citizen, feeling as though what I’m doing is wrong. That’s what’s implied when you don’t have the same kinds of rights as other people.”—Ian Thorpe, during an appearance on Anh’s Brush With Fame in which he opened up about his struggle to come out and the sorry state of marriage equality in Australia
Watch:
Countervail
So celebrities have a near identical coming out story like regular people?
Wow, who would have guessed. (?_?)
Donston
Feeling like his situation was special isn’t implied in the quote.
TDQ
Hi Hard enough coming out when you have to potentially face judgement and negativity from people you know, imagine you are a world famous sportsman (which he is, if you dont him you dont follow sports, but dont assume those who follow sports are not aware of his incredible achievements) and you have that PLUS the judgement of every person with access to a PC, phone or whatever. All the smart asses here should cut the guy slack.
DDstar1me
Who? Da hell is this? What is he..even…who is this?
MikeE
Really? 5 Olympic gold medals? And all you can post is an ignorant “who is this?”
DCguy
A famous Australian swimmer who was suspected as being gay for a long time, and came off as fairly self hating for a while. But now is finally getting comfortable with it apparently.
He was another one that the anti-lgbt people would point to and attack lgbts for asking if he was gay and saying “You all always think everybody is gay” The same things they said about Clay Aiken, Ricky Martin, Adam Lambert, Neil Patrick Harris, etc….
Donston
Multiple Olympic medal winner and probably the biggest male athlete to come out (though it was after his career ended).
Sluggo2007
Hey, DDstar1me, there’s this thing called Google. Check it out.
DDstar1me
@MikeE…bite me!
walterhpdx
Wow. So edgy. So original. ::yawn::
MikeE
doesn’t change the ignorance.
captainburrito
That happened to me. I was getting there myself and then some gay people tried to out me and I hadn’t worked up the courage to just say yup, especially being confronted in front of so many people. Before I could answer my friends all stood up for me and bitched them out. That made me feel even worse as I’d have to “disappoint” them so it took me an extra while. But I told them one on one and nothing changed, they still slept in the same bed as me at sleepovers and nothing was awkward.
Prax07
I don’t follow sports at all, so I’d never heard of him either.
He BGB
I don’t know him either. Being an Ian, he’s probably British or Australian, like Clive and Nigel.
OzJosh
Zero points for Thorpe. He issued denial after denial, even after his Olympic career was over. He clung to the closet to make the most of sponsorship deals and media opportunities.
DCguy
And if I remember, he was kind of a dick about it too.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
He was. He wrote a book about it as well. He’s a jerk. The closet cases spin it to where they’re the victim while their homophobia under the rug.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
*their own homophobia is swept under the rug.
Donston
Damn. Can you mofos forgive and let live? He’s out of the closet now and is very open about who he is and what he went through. Yes, his hesitation and denial could be have been calculated for money and image (not that that would make him different than any other celebrity). Yes, he denied it for a long time, but it’s not like he was ever dating women or getting beards while using men for sex (like the majority of these closeted male celebrities). And unlike a lot of celebrities who come out or semi come out he seems to be very honest and straightforward. I resent that the majority of these men, particularly athletes, wait until after they’re relevant or never come out at all. It’s incredibly annoying. However, I see no reason to hold on to ill feelings.
machuffin
I’m sorry, but where’s the heart-breaking part? He only refers to not coming out in one or two sentences and it is a fairly bland and generic statement of a feeling that everybody, gay or not, frequently faces. The journalism online is awful.