Make Olympics great again! MOGA!
You may think Team USA is already pretty great–they train year after year to become the very best at what they do (even if its Curling), displaying a dedicated perseverance not often found in the era of instant gratification.
But you’d be missing the point.
2018’s Team USA is, to quote Fox News’ executive editor and executive vice president John Moody, “Darker, Gayer, Different.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
And that’s a big problem, says Moody.
He says that “unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’”
“If your goal is to win medals,” he adds, “that won’t work.”
We hate to break it to him, but the Olympics (especially the Winter variety) has always been pretty gay.
What’s changed this year? Well, two athletes–skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon–are out of the closet going into the games, an Olympic first for Team USA.
They’ve also both been critical of the choice to make Vice President Mike Pence the leader of the U.S. delegation.
Hmm… Wonder why?
Related: Read Mike Pence’s article advising employers never to hire gay people
Related: That time Donald Trump joked Mike Pence wants to ‘hang all the gays’
Related: Mike Pence just tried to revise his history on HIV and conversion therapy — here’s the real story
Related: Mike Pence’s Seven Most Vicious Homophobic Moments (There’s A Lot To Choose From)
Kenworthy appeared on Ellen and said Pence’s presence sends a negative message, and Rippon has gotten into a back-and-forth with the VP on Twitter, leading Pence to label reports of his antigay past as “fake news.”
But it’s not just the gay thing Moody has a problem with–he seems to be against any celebration of diversity at all.
“In Olympics, let’s focus on the winner of the race – not the race of the winner,” the headline of his piece reads.
He goes on to criticize Jason Thompson, the US Olympic Committee’s director of diversity and inclusion, for speaking positively about the diversity of American athletes.
“We’re not quite where we want to be… I think full-on inclusion has always been a priority of Team USA,” Thompson said.
“I think everybody’s always felt it should represent every American.”
Related: Pita Taufatofua (a.k.a. the Shirtless Tongan) is back at the Olympics and everyone’s fainting
Moody has a different take:
“A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics,” he says.
“That was followed by a, frankly, embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team.
“No sport that we are aware of awards points – or medals – for skin color or sexual orientation,” Moody goes on.
“So, while uncomfortable, the question probably needs to be asked: were our Olympians selected because they’re the best at what they do, or because they’re the best publicity for our current obsession with having one each from Column A, B and C?” Moody asks.
Related: Team USA may be sending three openly gay athletes to the Winter Olympics
(We’re pretty sure its because they’re the best at what they do. Moody certainly isn’t presenting any proof otherwise, just his thinly veiled racism.)
He adds: “Insisting that sports bow to political correctness by assigning teams quotas for race, religion or sexuality is like saying that professional basketball goals will be worth four points if achieved by a minority in that sport – white guys, for instance – instead of the two or three points awarded to black players, who make up 81 percent of the NBA.
“Any plans to fix that disparity? Didn’t think so.”
There is, of course, no such quota for US athletes.
He concludes with: “Sorry. ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ still works better than ‘We win because we’re different.’”
Last we checked you can win while also celebrating diversity, or is he just bummed that straight whiteness isn’t the only thing being celebrated anymore?
UPDATE: In a statement emailed to Queerty (and we assume every other news outlet–there were a lot of them–that picked up Moody’s piece) a Fox News spokesperson issued the following statement:
“John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of Fox News and has been removed.”
Juanjo
I mean really, have you ever heard of a gay figure skater or a lesbian soccer player? Come on.
Bob LaBlah
Remember Rudy Galindo? Does ANYONE remember Rudy Galindo? Rudy didnt make it to the Olympics but he did win a bronze medal in other competitions. He was also one of the first professional athletes (after Greg Louganis and Magic Johnson) to step up and say he was HIV positive. I hate that he is going to be overlooked because he was not an Olympian but for those of you who never heard of him he is worth a Google search. Its a shame no one at Queerty sees a reason to bring him up at this time.
Hussain-TheCanadian
John Moody needs to shut the f*ck up; perhaps his ass can put on skates and represent team USA, otherwise this glorified ape needs shush it.
Smith David
Fox news is doing what they are all directed to do. Pull focus away from the terrible decisions stump makes on a daily.
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Bopper1
…coming outta any other mouth, those would be completely unacceptable homophobic and racist slurs…so why haven’t they fired him yet?!…standby…
linniejr
I agree with you 100,000 times.
Creamsicle
Why haven’t they fired him yet? Because he’s on message. Fox has never NOT felt this way. They cater to the kind of people who think that rights, representation, and pride is a zero sum game. To them celebration of gayness somehow diminishes the achievement of straight people. Seeing brown and black bodies at the Olympics is offensive because they think that they must have been selected for the sake of diversity rather than being more qualified than the competition. They think that marriage equality somehow damages heterosexual marriage.
They cater to people with deep seated fear of people who look different and who have lived lives different from their own. It’s only going to get worse, the demographic projections say that whites will be less than 50% of the working population by 2032. As that reality approaches Fox will be there to stoke the fears of their base and assure them that they are the true Americans even while they undermine the values that the Founders established and embrace conservative leaders with authoritarian leanings.
Why hasn’t he been fired? Because this is what Fox News does. This is who Fox News is.
whatsaywhat
He’s just pissed because all the people he’s like to see taking spots on the Olympic team are presently strung out in their mothers’ basements, tweaking on meth amphetamines.
And it’s all Obama/Hillary/the Mexicans/the Muslims/the fill-in the-blank ‘s fault.
Heywood Jablowme
The more “athletic” Fox News viewers, up in Michigan and Wisconsin, go ice fishing a lot. They drive their trucks out onto the ice and crash through.
Brian
I’m still amazed by how easy it is for media to rewrite history. The Olympic trials are well-documented. There’s footage, trophies, medals…. Yet this man makes it sound like those events never occurred. And people will believe him.
BCbreeze
could not agree with you more.
BCbreeze
“In Olympics, let’s focus on the winner of the race – not the race of the winner,”
How could anyone not agree with this, stop trying to make things a big deal… When it’s not!
whatsaywhat
Uhhh Moody is the one who did a whole piece about some random, unidentified USOC official’s comments.
Seems like Fox News chose to “make things a big deal” when it’s not.
dwes09
If there is increased diversity within our Olympic team it is because grass roots movements have made training in winter sports accessible to a broader range of people, and those with natural talent who in the past have not had access to training are raising to the top. Selection is grueling, and race is not an issue.
Pride in diversity does not mean standards have been lowered or quotas put in place.
gjg64
What a douche.
gaym50ish
The USOC seems very accommodating toward gay athletes now, but they were not so friendly to the gay community in the 1980s. In the first year of the Gay Games in 1982, it was called the Gay Olympics. But Congress long ago gave the USOC exclusive rights to the name “Olympics,” even though it’s an ancient term. So the USOC made them change the name.
The USOC has given permission to the Special Olympics, the Paralympics, the California Fire and Police Olympics, the Georgia Golden Olympics, the Junior Olympics, the Olympics of the Mind and even the Eskimo Olympics, but refused to allow a gay group the same courtesy.
paul dorian lord fredine
‘darker. gayer. different.’
why not throw a little racism into it while you’re at it.
darren michaels
It seems a fact of life, the ones that have the most to say are most often the ones who do the least.
Offering an opinion or stirring up a discussion of how gay the gay athletes only seems a reaction guaranteed to perpetuate the division that has become so common in The United States. People like Mike Pence are unable to avoid voicing their opinions of others no matter the results. Unfortunately, a complete lack of awareness regarding what the Bible actually says about homosexuality continues to misinform for the sake of fulfilling a false narrative.
Sexual orientation was not understood in biblical times. Claims the Bible is clear “that homosexuality is forbidden by God” is poor biblical scholarship and a cultural bias. The Bible says nothing about “homosexuality” as an innate dimension of personality. Sexual orientation was not understood in biblical times.
There are references in the Bible to same-gender sexual behaviour, and all of them are undeniably negative. But what is condemned in these passages is the violence, idolatry and exploitation related to the behaviour, not the same-gender nature of the behaviour. References to different-gender sexual behaviour are condemned equally in the Bible for the same reasons. Yet claiming the condemnation a result of behaviour between a man and a woman fails to occur quite the same as between two men or two women.
gossipbear
I know, right? And as for the New Testament there is nothing – nothing – in Jesus’ teachings against homosexuality.
mujerado
Maybe Moody has never heard of Greg Louganis or Tom Daly. Or maybe he thinks diversity is only good for the summer Olympics. Or maybe he’s just a garden-variety bigot.
Bob LaBlah
People, before you get too angry just remember Fox is about the only news (and I say that loosely) outlet that thinks Trump can make America great again. I wasn’t aware of Obama wrecking it considering the mess of 2008 he inherited and how he dealt with accordingly but for some reason Fox says he did and only Trump, the four time bankrupt real estate developer and reality show buffoon as well as buffoonish acting President of the United States can get it done. So hey, they must call this one too I guess.
jcoberkrom
This from the Network which thinks it’s okay to sexually harass women.
Consider the source!