Thorpe Making Waves

Ian Thorpe is arguably the greatest athlete Australia has produced in recent times, at least that's the way I view him. A world champion by the time he was 15, and by 17 he had 'accomplished his (my) dreams'. Between 1999 to 2004 he was never beaten at any major swimming event over the 400m freestyle. He was anchor in every notable Australian relay team, and held an amazing 13 individual World Records over his illustrious career. 

However, through all of his success one question came up more than most - is he gay?

The answer to this was revealed by Thorpe in a tell-all interview with Michael Parkinson on Channel 10. The reaction to Thorpe 'coming out' has been hugely positive, with twitter exploding with the hashtag '#onyathorpie'. But among the many well-wishers there has been one phrase that has really taken over. Many media personalities have said it, and most of you probably thought it when you first heard this story generating media attention.
It is the phrase; who cares?

I understand what people are trying to voice by saying this, but in reality, we should care. Not because it's a good news story, and not because Thorpe's sexuality is any of our business, but we should care because his decision to come out may help many more young children do the same.

In the interview Thorpe states that he was first publicly asked about his sexuality at the age of 16.
16 !!

By 16 I was still an innocent young boy, who had only just got his head around the birds and the bees. To say that this was a ridiculous thing to ask anyone, let alone a 16 year old boy doesn't even begin to do it justice. This would be a difficult question for any 16 year old to answer in the privacy of their own mind, let alone to broadcast to the entire world's media.

The vulnerability of teenagers is highlighted in the studies done by the San Francisco State University in 2012 show that self harm rates for gay and lesbian teenagers is 8 times higher than that of straight teenagers. The anxiety and depression that affected Thorpe ever since he was 19 definitely had something to do with his inability to express his sexuality. Currently, there would be many teenagers feeling the same way that Thorpe did. It is depressing that this is a completely normal way for teenagers to feel. But the fact is, while predispositions are currently changing for the better, we still live in a country that doesn't recognise gay marriage legally, and the term 'gay' is still used in school yards to denote a negative situation or experience. Yet despite this, people still asked 'Why didn't he tell us ages ago' in reference to Thorpe's decision to come out.

It's simple, its not that easy. You would be idiotic to believe that any gay or lesbian person has never once tried to deny that they were gay at some time in their life. Even if they have 'come out of the closet' since then, there would have been a time when they denied it or kept it hidden. Like others before him, Thorpe had his reasons. He was worried about how his friends would see him. He was worried about how his family would take the news. And he was especially fearful that the Australian public he worked so hard to please would reject him if they knew he was gay. This is not how anyone should have to feel.

I wish we were at a stage where the sexuality of a person within the media was not speculated about, but even though we are moving in the right direction we are not there yet. The same day that the news about Thorpe broke, AFL commentator Brian Taylor was in hot water for calling Harry Taylor a 'big poofta', perfectly highlighting that there is still so much we have to learn. And so, with each new media personality that announces themselves as gay, we must congratulate them and highlight that it is perfectly fine to be gay, and to be proud of it. We shouldn't say 'who cares', because there are many 16 year olds out there that would have cared as they could have been going through similar things as Thorpe at that same time, and there will be many more who will deal with those circumstances in the future. They may not be in the media spotlight like Thorpe was, but they may be part of sporting teams, or simply struggling to deal with it themselves. Thorpe had to hide his true self for so long, but hopefully his decision to reveal that he is gay will help many others, particularly young Australians to do the same. 

As for Thorpie, at TJR we hope that being comfortable and proud of being gay is a huge step in the right direction for him, and the end of any mental demons he has had to overcome recently.

#tjr