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I agree. I wish that someday no one need to publish their sexual statue to all the world.Am I the only one who is really looking forward to the day when this just isn't necessary? Kevin's statement made it quite clear that he didn't really want to have to publicly "come out" and I feel very sad that he was pressured into it. Peoples' private lives should be permitted to remain just that, private. Maybe I'm a cock-eyed optimist, but I hope that one day in the not too distant future, the world gets over this obsession with gender and sexuality labels and starts seeing and treating everybody as equals and worthy of both celebration and/or anonymity as they each desire.
This is naive. If a gay couple is together they are announcing it just by virtue of their being together. Are you suggesting we all go back in the closet so that nobody has to know we are who we are? If a straight couple walks down the street holding hands should I not be able to with my partner? Heterosexual people do have not to announce they are straight because that has historically been seen as normative. For decades we have had to hide who we were or suffer severe consequences in EVERY facet of life. The closet was a very crowded place. In some countries you can be put to death for being gay still today. In The Pulse nightclub in Florida Queer people were gunned down because they just existed. Kids today are still kicked out of the homes and rejected by their families. Coming out is a brave and defiant act. It IS necessary because it sends a message that we exist and we are not ashamed.I agree. I wish that someday no one need to publish their sexual statue to all the world.
Just for an example, imagine if all people heterosexual need to publish : Hey I'm heterosexual ! Respect me in my heterosexuality !
To me if you are hetero or gay, this information is a private information and the world doesn't need to know this information.
I wish a world that sexuality is private and that everyone see everyone as we are human person and that's it !
Great post!!I read the comment of soccerjc77 not as disliking it when people come out, but as hoping that everybody will be accepted as who they are and being who they are should all be normal (but correct me if I misunderstood that comment).
I've had discussions with haters who don't want LGBTplus (sorry, I always forget the latest term, plus is easy for me to include everyone) people coming out. These discussions always exhaust me and I'm straight. Imagine what it's like for LGBTplus people then! Having to explain yourself, your being, over and over and over and over etc. For many straight people this is just a topic once in a while, but for LGBTplus people this is daily life.
For example, once my son was organising a 'purple Friday' in his school (a marketing and communications degree) and his school was supportive and even helped him. Purple Friday is a national day of talking about LGBTplus topics in schools in the Netherlands, not all schools participate yet, but it gets better every year.
The support of the school of my son gave me the feeling that everyone supports these issues now. At work however my colleague said nasty things about purple Friday. He didn't see the need for schools to participate in this topic and why did people come out and "sexualise society with coming out stories" and bla bla bla. Just recently a gay couple was beaten up, because people saw them holding hands. I used to explain why something like purple Friday might be important. And hetero people are "sexualising society" more than any LGBTplus person would, look at adverisements, magazine covers, etc. My colleague was in his 20s, so I thought his modern young mind would understand. But he replied it was better for gay people not to hold hands in public then and he didn't think children should learn about LGBTplus. I asked him if he would stop holding hands with his girlfriend. Then our lunchbreak was over, so he never answered that question.
It's disturbing that in our century this topic is still an issue. People at work, on tv, on internet, everywhere, are comfortable saying nasty things about LGBTplus people and don't think it's wrong to even take away their basic human rights. There is also the topic of LGBTplus people who are a minority, so they already deal with racism because of their ethnicity/religion and then there is the added discrimination of them also being part of LGBTplus.
As long as society doesn't react normal to natural ways of life, which is not just hetero but also LGBTplus, then yes, coming out will remain important and those able to do that in public help many people and probably save lives by speaking up. I'm grateful to celebrities who come out, because they help the conversation along.
I like the skating of Aymoz, am disappointed though that Fontana is still his coach, but then again, I don't know what their relationship is really like, am not suprised about his coming out and hope that all the athletes who came out recently will help the skating world finally cross over and join the 21st century.
Someone said it already. Please keep in mind that not everyone lives in Montreal or San Francisco. It is much harder to grow up as a gay kid in small towns and some countries still have laws that punish homosexuality. Closer to us, remember the Sochi 2014 Olympics?
So yes, maybe the number of threads about each skater coming out gets a bit much... but if it's there, it's because it is still necessary and relevant. Today, the NFL saw its first openly gay player, Carl Nassib.
There is still a lot of work to be done before there is no longer a need to share these. Nassib speaks very eloquently about WHY he is coming out. A very handsome man, if you will allow me
Sexuality is not necessary to be happy and isn't a factor to success in a sport. A person without sexuality can be happy and success in a sport. I wonder why those athletes needs to bring the attention to them for their sexuality ? It probably a marketing thing for the media to influence people ... I continue to say that those media news in sexuality isn't necessary. Sexuality should be private even if your are straight or gay.
Sexuality is not necessary to be happy...
It probably a marketing thing for the media
Visibility is important because not everyone will identify to the gay role models that are out there. I do not want to name anybody, but when I was growing up, there were some people out there who were out, but I couldn't identify to them...it actually made me stay in the closet even longer LOL.... and this is why I appreciate so much the effort of Carl Nassib for instance. At one point, I met some gay guys with whom I could relate... it was much later for me and only when I moved to a bigger city, got to university... so kuddos to Kévin, he can be a role model for some young guys, and thanks to everyone who is coming up with their stories....figure skaters are not popular mainstream athletes as much as those in the big professional leagues or tennis players for instance. We need more of these guys to come out.I’m going to tell you a story.
Somewhere in a rink in France there is probably a young boy. This boy happens to identify his sexuality as gay. Maybe he gets teased by his friends and is scared to tell his parents because he knows that they won’t support him. And one day he‘s looking online and sees that his idol, Kévin Aymoz, has come out. Now he feels different, because he knows that being gay doesn’t have to hold you back, and that it’s ok to be gay (regardless of whatever his parent/friends have told him).
So imagine what the two seemingly simple words, ”I’m gay” can do for someone.