Gay men love rooting for the underdog. We admire stories of people who work hard and succeed against all the odds. Which is partially why the movie I, Tonya has resonated with so many people in the LGBTQ community:
Gay culture is obsessing over Tonya Harding
— Mitski Fan Account (@heyolsport) January 23, 2018
recent overriding thought: i wish i could have been alive and gay in 1991 to stan tonya harding
— ? (@tragicgay) January 14, 2018
To make a long story short Tonya Harding is a gay icon
— hey maid (@solomonjohng) January 16, 2018
And, hey–it’s a solid movie. But guess what, folks? Tonya Harding is not a gay icon! She never has been! And she never will be!
In a new interview with the New York Times podcast The Daily, Harding let it be known that she is a proud, gun-loving, Trump-supporting conservative.
Among the many things the disgraced former Olympic figure skater talked about–her love of hunting animals with a bow and arrow, her staunch support of the second amendment, her three fur coats, and how she totally would have voted for Trump…if she weren’t a felon.
We’re going to go out on a limb and say we’re guessing the love so many gays feel for the 47-year-old felon isn’t mutual.
Earlier this month, Johnny Weir offered his two cents over the recent outpouring of love and admiration for Harding:
I am so over the glamorization of a villain simply because she was born on the “wrong side of the tracks.” While her upbringing may have been tragic, athletes come from all walks of life and succeed based on merit, not assault. I won’t applaud her and I stand for Nancy.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 10, 2018
He followed that up with an interview with TMZ, saying, “She did a horrible, horrible thing. She’s a pariah in our sport and she shouldn’t be forgiven for basically, possibly having the opportunity of ruining somebody’s life.”
Thoughts?
whatsaywhat
Way to put gays in a box, Queerty.
Many gays hunt animals, support the second amendment, have fur coats and voted for Trump. Or maybe only one of the above four. Or two or three of the above four.
Why must you paint the entire so-called “community” with the same brush? Are we not allowed to have our own thoughts, interests & ecceniricities? Do you consider us self-hating gays if we don’t accept the liberal political opinion on every single issue we encounter in waking life?
Please, stop stereotyping us based on left-vs.-right politics. We are way more complex than that and recognize that buying into America’s left-right red-blue coke-pepsi binary obsession is just another way to label, categorize and villainize and victimize people.
joseph_buscarino
well said for sure. Thou I do agree with the article, in that, just because she had a hard life does not justify what she did.
joseph_buscarino
however the generalizations made in this article are total crap
DavidIntl
Absolutely. My own political perspective is somewhat complicated – but runs along libertarian lines. And so I find it rather frustrating to see Queerty and other LGBT sites and news sources assuming that every member of the gay community surely holds far-left liberal views on every issue.
RESCHI
I could not have said it better. Thank you!
deppa
I partially agree with you although this site -and most gay sites -are geared to left wing politics and for a good reason. If you are a right wing Trump supporter, you are voting against the gay community and are working against gay rights.
People claim they can be both for gay rights and a Republican but look at the Republican track record for gay rights over the past three decades. Abysmal. And you want to support and embrace that?
Every time I vote for a pro-gay candidate I will know that some right wing gay is crossing out my vote with his. Nice.
DCguy
And by “Liberal Political Opinion”
You mean the opinion that lgbts are people and should have civil rights right?
Oh, and Mo Bro, if you’re going to bring out a different screename try not to cut and paste your exact wording. Switch it up….oh, but wait, all you’ve got are little comments, because if you actually tried to provide details your support of racist and anti-lgbt policies and politicians would be even more clear.
Brody
What’s truly astounding is that professional gays (those who are Gay-with-a-capital-G) arrogantly insist that the rest of us adhere to their ideologies, lest we be seen as the enemy. Which amounts to basically waging a civil war within our own community. Which won’t end well.
whatsaywhat
@DCguy
Your anger at Trump and the GOP for their continual betrayal of LGBT is legitimate. But with the exception of Trump-support, three of the four “reasons” Graham Gremore gave us for Tonya not being “gay” enough have absolutely NOTHING to do with being gays or gay rights. Literally nothing – except that they are politically championed by the GOP moreso than they are by the democrats (who are also a gun-loving, right-wing, corporatist neoliberal party).
Paco
How on this earth could she ever be viewed as a gay icon? WTF, gay millennials?
NateOcean
Is that picture of psychic Sylvia Browne? I thought she was dead.
Danny595
So 3 people tweeted that she is an icon and this is a story? In an effort to salvage some meaning from this pointless post, let’s observe something about those 3 tweeters: They are effeminate boys. All 3. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
First, effeminate men are incapable of looking up to, or identifying with, other males. So they seek out females as their “icons.”
Second, effeminate males also tend to have chaotic, unhappy lives and so they are drawn to troubled or dysfunctional women. That is why, for example, 10 years ago, effeminate men were bleating about Britney Spears and much older effeminate gay men loved Judy Garland. When I asked one of these dinosaurs why they viewed Garland, a heterosexual woman, as an icon, he replied “Well, she died young and had troubled relations with men.” For a normal person, those are reasons why someone shouldn’t be your icon, not reasons why they should.
Third, on average, effeminate men have poor character. They weren’t raised properly by their dads and they have difficulty living by principles and sorting right from wrong. It’s all about what gives them “feelz.” So the fact that this woman is a felon who hindered a criminal investigation into a violent assault is of no consequence. All that matters is that she gives them feelz.
Effeminacy is toxic and should be stigmatized, contained and eliminated from gay life and from among all men regardless of sexual orientation.
whatsaywhat
Thanks for the analysis Dr. Freud. Next can you give us a Psych 101 lecture on shame and projection?
hourtohour
The amount on utter bullshit in this response is difficult to comprehend. Not only is it riddled with fallacies but it exposes your own fears regarding men who are effeminate. Stick this heteronormative crap right up your own ass.
joseph_buscarino
All I have to say is wow;) where all that come from? repress much? funny thou;)
ChrisK
I just like to read the follow up responses on Dannygirls posts. Guaranteed insane babbling of some moral order nonsense and the predictable responses to it.
Danny595
@whatsaywhat – Sure!
“Shame” is a good thing when properly employed. “Projection” is, or should be, irrelevant to your analysis of an argument, and the veracity of the claims therein.
Class dismissed!
Donston
Nonsense. Being gay/gay-leaning/queer does equate to being a bit more likely to contend with certain mental illnesses and certain personality disorders. But it is not connected to femininity or masculinity. In fact, the vast majority of gay and gay-leaning men who kill themselves or kill other people, including their boyfriends, are not effeminate.
whatsaywhat
I think I learned more from your original demonstration @Danny595. A masterclass, really.
Louis
God stfu already must this country consistently have to put up with you neanderthals absolute bullshit daily in this country?
You are a self loathing self hating hypocrite how dare guys like you try to shame others simply because you aren’t the least bit educated about the people you hate or fear or despise.
Effeminacy is not toxic either you twit most gay men I know are never afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves and be completely honest they aren’t afraid to show emotion they refuse to live like men like you do.
The men that are consistently acting like archaic and primitive cavemen in this country using stupid phrases like ” man up” or “grow a thicker skin” 24/7.
Get over yourself and take your head out of your narrowminded self righteous ass also.
I am truly so sick and tired of lgbt like you representing our community in the most shameful.divisive,and embarrassing ways possible.
Tête Carrée
@Danny595
Replace the words “effeminate man” with “gays” in your anguished rant and we’re right back to the concentration camps, Anita.
James
Waste of time talking about that horrid hag.
oaksong
So I got to effeminate boys and began to wonder whether there might be some underlying sarcasm. Just sayin’.
Polaro
Psychotic trailer trash – no, never was a gay icon, never will be. There is nothing sympathetic about her.
Kieran
This whole “gay icon” thing is a load of crap, as is the idea that ALL gay men have to think a certain way or else they’re not officially gay.
happiness17
That’s the first I’ve heard of Tanya Harding being a gay icon. She’s far from it. She’s a manipulative beech who plays the victim. Harding is a wanna be
celebrity. None of her cohorts from the Nancy Kerrigan incident have exploited their actions. Tanya’s so called fame will be ending faster than a
quicker than it started.
paul dorian lord fredine
hey, danny595. i’ve known several what you refer to effeminate men who could probably whip your macho ass. i’d refrain from your toxic stereotyping if i were you since you don’t know shit.
Danny595
Even if they could scratch my eyes and pull my hair, that wouldn’t refute anything I said above. It would only make them violent effeminates who can’t argue a point.
ivanw222
I can buy that she probably didn’t know her boyfriend’s plans. It was still done to improve her chances. I can’t say she is a victim in this, the only victim was Nancy. I don’t recall if Tanya did anything to help the investigation.
chris33133
Since when does Johhny Weir speak for me? He has a huge conflict of interest here since he’s profited so greatly from ice skating’s power structures that make it possible for him to succeed.
Maybe people should re-read some Greek Tragedies to better understand that, sometimes, life can create multiple victims.
sanfranca1
She’s only 47? Could have fooled me. She has not aged well at all.
Dymension
“Gay culture” is obsessing over her? What does that even mean? You mean gay men are obsession over her? Whatever…she always was and still is white trash.
smartguyd
I’m sorry but this podcast was making up nonsense barely based on the whiff of a few “quotes” taken from an article/interview by TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER. I went back and read the article Tonya said she loves fishing and hunting with a bow and arrow and her husband uses an old timey MUZZLELOADER and she talked about the fur coats she owns. They also chopped up a quote of some joke about “If you eat a carrot you’re killing it” about animal rights activists not liking her. This seems to be about 75% of what they are basing their claims on. They also FALSELY claim she is barred from voting after quoting her as saying she chooses not to vote, they seem to think she lives in Washington state but every other source I found says she moved back to rural Oregon with her husband and in either case both states allow felons to vote after serving their sentence. She is never quoted as saying she supports Trump.
Brody
Dammit, stop using facts to bolster your argument.
Facts are unwelcome if they foil the message, and the message is that anyone who voted for Trump is the enemy.
Bob LaBlah
I loved her in her younger days. She looked the type who loved a good Mandigo sized double anal cream pie.
IanHunter
Redneck hit the triple axel. It made me proud. I don’t care about the scandal, she still probably drinks Jack and Coke and smokes Marlboro Reds, but she was our Redneck on ice.
ShowMeGuy
She’s hot again because someone decided to exploit her story and make a movie to get money…..and that’s the only reason anyone is even talking about her today. She’s old news and will quickly vanish back into the shadows……and 15 years from now when someone else wants some money earned cheap and easy, they will do a “reboot” of this movie and SUPRISE….the world will be obsessed with her again for another 15 seconds.
DCguy
Awwww, how adorable, another right winger from the party of “Personal Responsibility” Who has lied for years about her actions and when pressed, tried to blame it on her mommy.
Yeah, she’s a Republican.
Brody
It’s obvious from the article that Harding doesn’t achieve “gay icon” status because of her politics.
Now ask yourselves this:
How many of your (extraordinarily wealthy) so-called gay icons have armed bodyguards who depend on guns to protect them? How many of them are secretly cheering the economy and tax breaks? How many of them are raving hypocrites when it comes to their carbon footprint? How many of them exploit illegal aliens for the super-cheap labor? How many of them are thrilled with capitalism and the cushy lifestyle it provides them with? How many believe the death penalty is sometimes justified? How many of them refused to sign up for Obamacare because it’s a shitty deal and they can afford better?
The answer is Judy, Cher, Bette, Barbra, Beyonce, Marilyn, Liza, Madonna, Gaga, Ellen, Rosie . . . well, pretty much all of them, so perhaps it’s high time we stopped using their political leanings to determine their status as “icons.”
Donston
The last bit is kind of an empty comparison considering “Obamacare” is strictly designed for people who can’t afford healthcare. And those people aren’t really complaining about it.
Heywood Jablowme
If only Judy and Marilyn had Obamacare back in the day, maybe they’d still be around! And I’m guessing their carbon footprint is minimal at this point.
Plenty of rich liberals are pro-capitalist, of course, but they often regard extreme inequality as a potential problem for society. (Examples in history: French Revolution, Russian revolutions.)
Rich people can certainly be in favor of higher taxes for rich people. So what? No hypocrisy there. (Warren Buffet is the classic example.)
Yes, plenty of wealthy liberals need guns for protection. (Bill Maher for example.) That’s mostly because of all the drooling right-wing nutbags with guns out there.
“How many of them exploit illegal aliens for the super-cheap labor?” That’s your only valid point, Brody. I’d be interested to know the answer to that one. Anyone like that should be exposed. Although I suspect a lot of the wealthy offenders are Republicans!
Brody
Heywood –
To say they need guns to protect themselves from Republicans is a gobsmackingly stupid statement, even for a liberal. The answer is: They have money, and there are thieves everywhere (even ones who vote Democrat), and they need protection, so they hire armed bodyguards, all while preaching that you and I must be denied the same protection.
Show me a rich liberal who claims they’re in favor of higher taxes and I’ll show you a hypocrite who spends big money on high-end accountants to make sure that said rich liberals take advantage of any deductions or other legal loophole on their tax returns to pay as little as possible.
Finally, regarding your claim that Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland would be around had they had access to Obamacare . . . I’d laugh, but it’s just too sad that you’re unaware Obamacare doesn’t prevent suicide.
Donston –
Obamacare is the law of the land, son. Call up any insurance company, regardless of your income, and ask them. Until Trump can get more Republicans on board to reverse it, it applies to us all.
Heywood Jablowme
@Brody: Famous liberals are OF COURSE more concerned about threats from drooling right-wing nutjobs than they are about random burglars. Also someone can want a gun for protection and like the 2nd Amendment and still believe in gun background checks, etc. unlike the deranged whackjobs who run the NRA.
It’s not hypocrisy to pay what the existing tax laws require, while still having an opinion that tax laws should be changed, tweaked, maintained or whatever. This works exactly the same way for conservatives who pay what they need to but can still have an opinion that tax laws could be different. (As a long-time tax preparer in the past, I’ve noticed that for some weird reason conservatives are always obsessed with “making taxes so simple you can do them on a postcard.” Apparently a lot of conservatives are awfully dumb and have trouble figuring out taxes? Are their “high-end accountants” cheating them?)
Judy & Marilyn – that was a joke, dude. It was amusing that you stuck them in your list when they’ve been dead for 50 years.
Brody
Heywood –
Who said anything about the NRA?
The topic was liberal hypocrisy, which is so glaring and obvious you apparently have no choice but to deflect with stories about your past employment and the NRA and how conservatives are so stupid they can only fill out a post card-sized form.
Yet again proving that libs never want to debate, only to preach, and if we don’t obey, we’re all racist redneck misogynist homophobes. A skipping record is less predictable.
Heywood Jablowme
@Brody: You’re claiming that the NRA is not a conservative organization? You’re denying that it hasn’t twisted the entire Republican party into working in lockstep with its extreme views, even though MOST registered Republicans favor (for instance) background checks?
You claim (often!) that ALL liberals are against “guns” in general. I said that’s not true. Then YOU refuse to debate about it.
Why is it all about supposed liberal “hypocrisy” with you? There’s much more hypocrisy on the other side. You deny that Trump is anti-gay (debatable) but since the vast majority of Republican elected officials are anti-gay, that’s what YOU are defending.
Heywood Jablowme
@Brody: Also, last night Bill Maher confided that he still can’t bring himself to be totally against the death penalty. So there goes your idiotic contention that “all” liberals are against the death penalty. Care to debate THAT? Probably you won’t want to, because of your pro-Trump HYPOCRISY!
Donston
This is the kind of bait-y, unnecessarily politically charged article that makes this site come off very troll-ish.
Tonya Harding is not a “gay icon”. What went down was so ridiculous, so lascivious, so inherently campy that it was absorbed by “gay culture”. Tonya Harding may be fascinating to some people. But I’m pretty certain she’s nobody’s icon. So, just stop. And I’m not sure why there needed to be an article on Queerty about Tonya Harding’s (of all people) politics, especially since she said nothing related to lgbtq.
gaym50ish
Right-wing political views are not necessarily the enemy of gay people. The problem is with the RELIGIOUS right. Others who hold conservative views are not as anti-gay — although a new GLAAD study shows that we took a couple of steps back during Trump’s first year.
Brody
Agreed that Republicans aren’t the enemy, it’s religion that poisons people’s minds, and not just Christianity.
But I must ask: In what ways were we taken back a couple steps in the past year? I ask because I’m always hearing from gay people how horrible Trump is for us, but I have yet to see or hear of a single specific example—all I hear are generalities. Can you help me out here?
Donston
First, there’s been a considerable uptick in violence towards gay people over the past year and an uptick in overall unabashed anger and prejudice towards gay and trans people over the past year. This is based on stats not personal experience, though based on personal experience it seems to reflect reality. Trump has already green-lit or supported several anti-lgbtq policies. His general presence has also just led to more general division from within. You have over the top Trump supporters who are often obsessed with not being “defined” by their orientation and have partially latched on to Trump to prove that they’re not basic faags. And you have over the top Trump haters who use anything to incite a barrage of resentment towards his direction and his supporters direction. Finally, you have leeches (like this site) that have used the political upheaval to their advantage, to promote themselves, which has also led of to greater division and discourse.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m fine with Republicans and even Conversatives. People are individuals not political ideology. Everyone has their own reasons for supporting what they support. But there’s really no excuse for any sane person (particularly an openly gay one) to support Trump beyond party loyalty and/or self-resentment. Although, this site’s constant Trump-bashing has gotten old and is landing on deaf ears at this point.
Brody
Donston –
And yet, as happens whenever I ask, instead of providing specific examples, all you stated was, “Trump has already green-lit or supported several anti-lgbtq policies.”
So I’ll ask again: What policies has he implemented that are designed to harm us?
(other than the military tran ban, which doesn’t count since they’re not gay)
GayEGO
Tonya’s personality told me she was not a gay icon. People that are abusive and nasty do not represent the LGBTQ community, just look at Trump, a narcissistic bully!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
So many fücking gatekeepers in this “community” speaking with unearned authority. Well I’m sorry but it’s a historic fact that many gays have regarded monsters such as Thatcher, Nancy Reagen, Imelda Marcos et al as campy gay icons. No I don’t understand it either. But then I think what passes for gay culture generally today is embarrassing anti-intellectual trash
jlizze
NOT a gay icon! Tonya who? Oh the one that kept her mouth shut for her own gain. Worthless News.
tHeZipIMT
Tonya was eligible to Vote, who says she did vote?
Oregon. Individuals incarcerated for a felony conviction are ineligible to vote. Voting rights are automatically restored upon release from prison, and people on parole or probation can vote. Ex-offenders should re-register to vote.
Tonya was not incarcerated in 2016. And of course Tonya is a Gay icon!
dean089
I don’t see why not. What I do not understand is why ANY straight person is ever considered a ‘gay icon.’ This whole gay icon thing is something that appeals to a small, select group of gays who presume to represent the entire population. The rest of us just roll our eyes.
Bob LaBlah
I hope she sees a plastic surgeon about her looks. I’m saddened that its in her genes that she wrinkled all up like she did and put on a second chin and throat. And that neck too. Lord, girl looks a mess. And its not from partying either.
GaybyGod
I heard nasty comments from tough looking blondes, who adore trump, love guns, hate “Clinton and President Obama”, don’t want men in their rest rooms, and want religious freedom to overcome the homo-sex-shulls life style. Harding doesn’t fall far from that tree!
Notright
Wait who said she was a gay icon?! Haha
Louis
Sighs this community never can stop embarrassing itself in this world sighs again.
Tonya Harding is NO ICON IN ANYWAY WHATSOEVER she is a criminal that got off by lying and throwing the others she hired to hit Kerrigan under the bus.
The woman is unconscionable and disgusting.
Anyone that deems this anti gay illiterate fool a GAY ICON is an imbecile.