I came out of the closet when I was 16 - I was still skating and competing at that point - and am now 27. I never had any problems and I still don't. I firmly believe, however, Johnny's choice to not discuss his sexuality in the media is very much his own. That said, what kind of a message is it sending out to the hundreds of young gay and bisexual boys and men coming up through the sport when a flamboyant and popular U.S. skater is dodging the issue, so to speak?
Yes but did you ever come out to the international media, knowing it would be reported worldwide? Because I'm pretty sure that Johnny is completely open about his personal orientation with all of the people in his life, and has been since he was a young teen. But that's not the same as making a public announcement about it to the international media. I don't think the two can really be compared.
Let's remember that Johnny doesn't have endorsements from big sponsors, and he is already banned from the only skating tour left in the US (he is the one and only top US skater never even to be invited to guest star on SOI, even when he was the top-ranked US man and National Champ, and even though several SOI-conducted polls have overwhelmingly voted him as the most-desired cast member). The only chance he has to earn a living in this sport is the few skating shows he is invited to perform in each year in Japan and Korea, two very socially conservative countries. If he were to publically announce to the media that he is gay, there is a very good chance that his invitations to Asia would disappear as well, and he would have no income at all.
It's easy to say that he should tell the media his sexual orientation because he seems flamboyant anyway, but we don't have to live with the loss of income, and he does. Johnny has to support his training (about $100,000 a year for an elite skater), and he also has to help out his family, who used their savings to support his skating when he was younger. He also has all the bills and expenses that the rest of us have (rent, groceries, utilities, gas, insurance, etc.).
We also don't have to live with the crazy death threats from the many homophobic loonies out there who would respond to a media announcement like that. Johnny had a bad experience with someone who was hacking his personal website and visiting his fan clubs to make threats against him; perhaps that frightening occurence has something to do with his decision, as well.
I think it would be great if every gay athlete could feel free to come out to the media and face no serious repercussions, and I'm sure Johnny thinks that would be great, too. But until we all have to deal with the same repercussions of that decision that such athletes do, it's just too easy to sit back and judge them for not doing so.
By the way, there are a number of other currently-competing, top-ranked male skaters who are widely known to be openly gay in their private lives, but not one of them has made any announcement to the media about it, either, likely for the same reasons. No one ever seems to feel they should be obligated to do so because it would be better for gays if they were more open.
On the other hand, I don't think Johnny is afraid of the result if he tells the specific. I just think that he wants to be the way he wants, that's the reason that he acted this way. So let's be the way it is. It really doesn't matter one way or the other.
