Ian Thorpe

A bloke I know is fiercely protective of his kids and his boy is just now 16. He reckons that if anyone asks his son if he is gay, they should expect to be bruised.

He doesn't care if his boy is gay, he cares that some nosey parker asks such a question of a child.

So the big news this week is that Ian Thorpe came out. Well big deal and good on him and I truly hope that he can now just crack on and do whatever he wants to do without some nosey arse asking such questions.

I am saddened that the world still finds such statements shocking and newsworthy. I mean really who gives a flying shit about someone else's sex life? What sort of perv asked a child about that? What sort of society do we live in where it is acceptable to go after someone cos they might be gay? For fuck sake this is not Russia!!

Michael Romei, a freelance journalist has written quite the article about Thorpe's interview on sunday.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/07/14/comment-thorpe-emerges-too-late-some

When I read it I thought it was soo odd that Mr Romei was soo cross with Thorpe for not coming out in a fashion timely enough to be of help to him.

Well bugger me!! It seems that Mr Romei has long held the irrits about this. He reckons that if Thorpe had come out ages ago, his own life would have been easier. FFS!!

Thorpe's denials 'offended' Romei. Well bugger me again! I still reckon that we should have all been offended by the continuing questions and hounding.

Some people come out early. I taught a very self possessed young man who came out when he was about 16 and I have known men well into their 40s who still struggle with it. Some men lie about it, some deny it, some are unsure about it, and some have NFI what all the fuss is about.

Mr Romei's very idea that someone should be more timely with their public announcement about something that is private, just so he could have benefited, seems more than a little selfish.

I am not pretending to know what it is like to walk in the shoes of a gay man. I can only comment as a PERSON. Sure I have been known to gossip about the sexuality of celebrities, in fact I am pretty sure that I might well have asked a mate with a well defined GAYDAR if Ian Thorpe was gay. I didn't care about the answer.

What I do care about is the QUESTIONS.

If it wasn't for the bloody questions, I am pretty sure people would be more comfortable being themselves.

I look forward to a time when people are judged on their achievements not their sexuality.

I certainly hope that Ian Thorpe is long remembered as The King of Australian swimming and that every time his name comes up it is not with reference to the interview with Parkie.