Did we really need to know

Anonymous
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that Ian Thorpe is gay?

 

It was front page news on one paper I saw at the shop this morning.

 

why do we need to know? what did it matter? we don't have headlines saying people are het?

 

Poor guy has been hounded for years over his soxuality, I hope he finds some peace and happiness now.

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Did we really need to know


@paintsew007 wrote:

and back then or now, me knowing his sexuality - truth or fictional - would/is going to have a PROFOUND effect on mine and others' lives?

 

 

....oh my goodness me.

 


To some I can see it affecting their perception of him. Imagine certain groups of people that would stop their kids watching him or supporting him because of his sexual orientation. I suppose he was doing what was in his best interest for his career. 

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Anonymous
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Unfortunately, people being gay does have an effect on others- look how hard they have to fight to get the same entitlements hetero people have. look at churches picketing against gay people, and condemning them. look at gay people being bashed to death for no other reason than they are gay.

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Did we really need to know

yes true. But women get same and often worse just for being a woman and there are a lot more women in the world than gay people.

 

Being Gay should be something that should be celebrated and accepted by individuals in the privacy of there own world, with their own family/friends whoever......all this media hype stuff involving money is offensive and embarrassing . Cheapens the validity of the guys sexuality if anything IMO.

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Did we really need to know

in the privacy of their own world...

 

really?  they should keep it private?  so as not to offend the sensibilities of some? 

 

 

I'm sure he would have loved his sexuality to have remained his business but the fact is he has been hounded for years over it until he has reached the point of revealing it - $400k is small compensation for what the gossipmongers have put him through over the years

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Anonymous
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But we're not talking about being a woman in this instance, that is another topic entirely. you cant diminish what gay people [can]  go through by comparing them to another group of people.

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Did we really need to know

If the media stopped making a big deal out of who is gay and who isnt, maybe others would follow suit.

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The payment of $400 000 also included his commentary for the Commonwealth Games.

In the news article it said he had spent the last few years living in the UAE. I thought he was in Switzerland?

I don't get why he would lie and say 'No' when asked if he was gay. It is not something people should be pressured to answer anyway.
Could he have just refused to answer it? Not lie. I know that would make people think... Yep, he is gay but won't admit it?.. but they thought that anyway, even with his denials.

Deny and then claim this
"In the emotional sit-down shot last month, Thorpe also details the years of depression he has battled while denying his sexuality from the world. "
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I feel sorry for any partners he may have had over the years. Having to remain invisible, never going out as a couple, having to keep silent themselves. Anyone he was with would also have to keep up the lie

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Did we really need to know

Good. Now I can sleep at night.

**************************

"There is nothing more; but I want nothing more." Christopher Hitchins
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Did we really need to know


@lurker172602 wrote:
I agree, not news. The only sad thing is, I wonder how much mental anguish he might have saved himself if he hadn't "come out" to begin with. It's not like "star athlete is gay" is ground breaking anymore.

Who knows what sort of family/religious/internal battles he's been dealing with before  he felt ready to deal with the public over what is essentially a private matter. Or maybe he's on the cusp of revealing a relationship and wanted to minimise any fallout in advance....

 

Give it 2 days and hopefully nobody will will be talking about it any more, and the guy can get on with his life as he chooses.

 

Marina.

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