I know lots of people are tired of hearing about Johnny Weir, but with so few openly gay male athletes out there – and none with the media platform that Weir has – we can’t ignore it when he says something interesting. A couple things came out of his “Today Show” interview yesterday (videos after the jump). First is that he doesn’t feel the need to celebrate that he’s gay or be an activist, just like he doesn’t celebrate being male or white. Some will jump down his throat for this; I see where he’s coming from and don’t mind it.
What struck me was when he talked about his mother's reaction to him telling her he's gay when he was 18. He said she cried and got upset not because she didn't like that he is gay, but because she was worried for his own happiness.
I know lots of people are tired of hearing about Johnny Weir, but with so few openly gay male athletes out there – and none with the media platform that Weir has – we can’t ignore it when he says something interesting. A couple things came out of his “Today Show” interview yesterday (videos after the jump). First is that he doesn’t feel the need to celebrate that he’s gay or be an activist, just like he doesn’t celebrate being male or white. Some will jump down his throat for this; I see where he’s coming from and don’t mind it.
What struck me was when he talked about his mother's reaction to him telling her he's gay when he was 18. He said she cried and got upset not because she didn't like that he is gay, but because she was worried for his own happiness.
We hear over and over again from these supposedly perfectly gay-friendly parents that their terribly negative reaction to their kids coming out isn’t judgmental, they’re just worried. It seems insincere to me. Parents don’t want their kids to be gay because THEY don’t want a gay kid. I get it. I understand it. My parents didn’t want a gay kid. It took them years to fully accept that their son is gay. They went through personal hell over it. And now they couldn’t be more supportive (my mom now says she’s glad she has a gay son and my dad asks me about Dan every time we talk).
Something else from Weir's interview that I really liked: His continued honesty. He says he's jealous of Evan Lysacek's Olympic gold. He says it so matter-of-fact. I am still a big Johnny Weir fan (despite his need to wear the fur of tortured animals) because of that honesty, and I hope he keeps talking.
Hat tip to the Advocate.
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