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Related: About this forumWhy Is The World’s Gayest Sport Stuck In The Closet?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/blairbraverman/why-is-the-worlds-gayest-sport-stuck-in-the-closetFrom left: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty, Cameron Spencer / Getty, Jared Wickerham / Getty, Claudio Villa / Getty, Jared Wickerham / Getty, Jonathan Daniel / Getty
When I ask figure skater Jeremy Abbott how athletes should respond to Russias anti-gay laws, his eyes widen. Um, he says, and stops. He shrugs a little and glances over at the U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) handler whos standing nearby.
You dont have to answer that, the handler reassures him.
Abbott takes in a breath, glances down. Yeahhh, he sighs, almost inaudibly. Then Im going to walk away from that one.
Were backstage at the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which serve as an unofficial qualifier for the Olympic team, and Abbotts a favorite. Hes 28 years old, planning to retire at the end of the season and cautious; he was criticized last year for comparing Russias laws which have motivated the rape, torture, and murder of gay men and women to bad interior design.
(Im not going to go into somebodys house and be like, Um, the way you decorate is hideous.) A bunch of athletes had been cornered on the topic, and the less media-savvy skaters hadnt yet mastered the art of expressing compassion while sidestepping responsibility. Abbott just happened to come up with a particularly inept metaphor.
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Why Is The World’s Gayest Sport Stuck In The Closet? (Original Post)
xchrom
Feb 2014
OP
Stargazer09
(2,132 posts)1. Very interesting article
I think we will hear a lot more after the games are over.
The next few weeks have got to be a scary time for our athletes. I hope all of them stay safe.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)2. Third from the left is Jason Brown. nt
TexasTowelie
(112,157 posts)3. The skaters are identified incorrectly in the photo.
The man in green is Jason Brown, current silver medalist.
Response to xchrom (Original post)
Fearless This message was self-deleted by its author.