Ian Thorpe, Olympian Swimmer, Com Out as Gay | Time

Contents:

• ATRALIAN SWIMMER IAN THORPE COM OUT AS GAY
• I 'KNEW' IAN THORPE WAS GAY BACK 2004
• IAN THORPE'S MASSIVE ADMISSN ABOUT CISN TO E OUT AS GAY
• IAN THORPE SAYS HE ‘STGGLED’ TO E OUT AS GAY, PARTICULARLY TO HIS MUM AND DAD
• IAN THORPE ANNOUNC HE IS GAY
• IAN THORPE WIFE, PARTNER, RELATNSHIP, GAY, NET WORTH, HEIGHT & INSTAGRAM
• IAN THORPE: 'I AM NOT GAY AND ALL MY SEXUAL EXPERIENC HAVE BEEN STRAIGHT'
• IAN THORPE OUT AS GAY PARKSON TERVIEW
• IS IAN THORPE GAY?
• IAN THORPE REVEALS HE IS GAY, SCRIB STGGLE WH PRSN TELL-ALL TERVIEW WH SIR MICHAEL PARKSON
• OPNYOU ALREADY KNEW THORPE WAS GAY? NO, YOU DIDN'T
• IAN THORPE REVEALS HE IS GAY
• ATRALIAN OLYMPIC IN IAN THORPE REVEALS WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO E OUT AS GAY 2014

ATRALIAN SWIMMER IAN THORPE COM OUT AS GAY

Gay. Thorpe me out as gay a July 2014 televised terview wh Brish talk show host Michael Parkson, after years of publicly nyg his homosexualy. Acrdg to him, “I’m at ease intifyg as a gay man.

You n grow up, be ntent your sk, and be gay. He said, “I’m announcg my homosexualy to the world… I hope this mak simpler for others today, and feels better to get out even if you’ve been holdg for years.

Thorpe’s sexual orientatn and some obstacl due to his homosexualy petive swimmg were discsed a qutn-and-answer format terview. In addn, he also addrsed the gay accatns his book. Channg was Thorpe’s first public same-sex romance after g out as gay an terview wh Michael Parkson followg years of speculatn.

I 'KNEW' IAN THORPE WAS GAY BACK 2004

Atralian swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe announced he was gay this weekend after years of nials, a tell-terview that aired Atralia Sunday night.

IAN THORPE'S MASSIVE ADMISSN ABOUT CISN TO E OUT AS GAY

“I’m fortable sayg I’m a gay man, ” he told Brish terviewer Michael Parkson on Atralia’s Channel Ten, the ABC reports. You n grow up, you n be fortable and you n be gay.

” Thorpe, whose swimmg succs earned him the nickname “the Thorpedo, ” had earlier nied beg gay his 2012 tobgraphy. “For the rerd, I am not gay and all my sexual experienc have been straight, ” he wrote.

” “A part of me didn’t know if Atralia wanted s champn to be gay, ” Thorpe said, The Guardian reports. I first "knew" that Ian Thorpe was gay back 2004 at a pool Long Beach, Calif.

IAN THORPE SAYS HE ‘STGGLED’ TO E OUT AS GAY, PARTICULARLY TO HIS MUM AND DAD

The one exceptn was Thorpe, of whom gay mors had been swirlg sce he beme an OIympic champn at the 2000 Summer Gam Sydney.

"My prumptn was that he was gay, " Brent said, "and was like he knew that I knew and that sense he felt exposed. I had observed all this over the two days we were there and that's when I "knew" Thorpe was gay. I uld not prove a urt of law, but I knew the way we gays often know about certa people.

IAN THORPE ANNOUNC HE IS GAY

At the 2012 London Olympics, Thorpe admted that his terts fashn, among others, ma him see why he "ticked the box" on what a gay man is terted . Fally, his tobgraphy two years ago, Thorpe tegorilly me out as straight, sayg, "For the rerd, I am not gay and all my sexual experienc have been straight. " It was all not te, of urse, as we disvered Sunday when Thorpe told Michael Parkson that he is gay.

"I'm fortable sayg I'm a gay man, and I don't want young people to feel the same way I did, " he said, addg that he wished he had e out revealed earlier this year that he has checked himself to rehab for alholism and prsn. Closeted people njure up all sorts of reactns om other gay people.

IAN THORPE WIFE, PARTNER, RELATNSHIP, GAY, NET WORTH, HEIGHT & INSTAGRAM

" On the other hand, this ment on Outsports reflects another pot of view: "We are so supposed to five them for years of lyg bee gay = shame.... Thorpe did not risk the same level of physil abe as gay people livg other parts of the world and his sport would have easily accepted him, as his fay did.

There's also the matter of what appears to be a quid-pro-quo between Thorpe and Channel Ten, the Atralian TV work where he revealed he was gay Sunday.

IAN THORPE: 'I AM NOT GAY AND ALL MY SEXUAL EXPERIENC HAVE BEEN STRAIGHT'

Ian Thorpe has reflected on his cisn to e out as gay.

Image: Channel 7/GettyAsie swimmg legend Ian Thorpe has opened up about his cisn to e out as gay 2014, revealg an terview wh Channel 7 that he wish he'd done sooner. "I had spent some time wh him before the terview and told him, 'you should ask me if I'm gay bee I'm gog to tell you I am'.

I'm fortable sayg I'm a gay man, " he revealed. "Part of me didn't know if Atralia wanted s champn to be gay. OLYMPIAN Ian Thorpe has revealed that he was tnted about his sexualy when he was a teenager which led him to be too ightened to e out of the closet, fearful of the reactn of his nservative five tim gold medal wng swimmer ma the ments at a fom on Tuday night where he shared a stage wh Jim Obergfell whose urt se led to the US legalisg gay marriage.

IAN THORPE OUT AS GAY PARKSON TERVIEW

“When I was about 16 I was acced of beg gay and bee was that tone, I always thought of as a negative, of not beg equal, ” he said at the Atralians 4 Equaly event held at Twter’s Sydney offic.

“It was overwhelmg and I was so pleased I would be accepted by my own fay, ” Thorpe he’d e out to his fay, revealg he was gay to Atralia was a cch, he said.

IS IAN THORPE GAY?

”Thorpe also said he supported the ntroversial Safe Schools program which aims to addrs anti-gay bullyg schools. ”Thorpe shared the platform wh Mr Obergfell whose book, Love Ws, tails the steps towards the gay marriage the US. It meant stat such as Texas, which had led agast allowg gay marriage, were forced to start issug marriage certifit to gay Obergfell told still didn’t feel real that a urt se wh his name on changed the law across the untry.

In 2013, he and his long term partner John Arthur travelled to Maryland to wed bee their home state of Oh still had a ban on gay upl the time, John was sufferg om the generative ndn motor nrone disease. While Oh regnised most marriag performed outsi the state, had created a specific law barrg the regnn of gay relatnships.

IAN THORPE REVEALS HE IS GAY, SCRIB STGGLE WH PRSN TELL-ALL TERVIEW WH SIR MICHAEL PARKSON

That the se got that far, he said, “rerc that John and I ma the right cisn to fight” the US printial mpaign Donald Tmp said he would nsir takg steps to reverse the Supreme Court’s cisn and hand gay marriage back to the stat which would almost certaly see the reform wound back some areas.

However, a US TV terview on Sunday, the Print-Elect said he was “fe” wh gay marriage and “ was settled the Supreme Court” Obergfell said he wasn’t so sure. ”Mr Obergefell said he supported the cisn ma by Sydney’s Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras members to unve Prime Mister Mallm Turnbull due to the lack of progrs on gay marriage. ”The key to breakg the marriage equaly impasse Atralia, he said, was for gay people to keep tellg stori of their relatnships and why marriage was important.

OPNYOU ALREADY KNEW THORPE WAS GAY? NO, YOU DIDN'T

NatnalEdutnThis was published 9 years agoWhen champn swimmer Ian Thorpe announced he was gay, after many years of speculatn, once aga highlighted the difficulti high-profile Atralians face when g out. He is mentatg poolsi at the Glasgow Commonwealth Thorpe announc he is gay to veteran terviewer, and longtime iend, Michael Parkson. In a recent, much-publicised terview wh English broadster Michael Parkson, Ian Thorpe, after years of nial, announced he was gay.

The swimmer said he was "ashamed" he had lacked the urage to "e out" sooner but had feared the reactn: "I didn't know if Atralia wanted s champn to be gay, " he said.

At the time, he rpond that he was not gay and had nsistently mataed this stance until now. Olympic gold medallist and Atralian diver Matthew Mcham, who announced he was gay before the 2008 Olympics, after many years of nial, said sponsorship mments would have weighed heavily on the swimmer bee of the associated stigma and stereotypg.

IAN THORPE REVEALS HE IS GAY

He acknowledged Thorpe's difficulty but weled his admissn sayg: "We need high profile gay athlet to prove the stereotype wrong" there a personal st? Some cricise Ian Thorpe for lyg so publicly about his sexualy for so long, particularly his 2012 tobgraphy, This Is Me, which he stated: "For the rerd, I am not gay and all my sexual experienc have been straight".

Others are disappoted that he felt able to wre so hontly about his prsn, alhol abe and suicidal thoughts while beg so dishont about his homosexualy. Furthermore, some argue that the reported guidance of Thorpe's mrs, keen to propagate the "heterosexual myth" and display the swimmer the media as a "ladi’ man", reveals a further obstacle: an unrlyg societal prejudice that perhaps rerced his beg gay still a problem Atralia?

ATRALIAN OLYMPIC IN IAN THORPE REVEALS WHAT PROMPTED HIM TO E OUT AS GAY 2014

This suggted to many that homosexualy, particularly among athlet, remas a ntroversial issue some sectns of society. Andrew Purchas, founr of the Sydney Convicts gby club, says this "sual associatn" go "to the re of the problem" Atralia and ntu to prevent gay athlet om openly beg themselv.

While assertg that his sexualy is nobody's bs but his own, many have neverthels acknowledged that his admissn will help others e to terms wh their sexual inty and will assist brgg closer as a natn to the day when the issue no longer warrants such Headl"Ian Thorpe owed to himself to be hont, but also to the public" The Sydney Morng Herald, July 14"Who r if Ian Thorpe is gay? 15-year-old closeted me, that's who" The Age, July 13"Brave Atralian Olympic Gam champn Ian Thorpe tells: I'm gay" The Sunday Telegraph, July 13"A gay father's open letter to Ian Thorpe" Huffgton Post, July 21 What The Age says"There is no pot pretendg that Atralia do not have a long way to go properly nontg prejudice agast homosexuals.

Edorial opn, July 15What people say"I'm fortable sayg I'm a gay man. "Ian Thorpe, ABC News, July 14"From my own experience beg gay and playg sport, homophobic language was a nstant remr that I wouldn't be accepted if I was to e out. ”William Brougham, ABC's Q&A, July 14Web LksQ&A Discsn - July 14 Marriage Equaly ViewDo high-profile gay people have a rponsibily to "e out"?