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I agree with you that in Johnny's case the damage would be less than in the case of other athletes, simply because his playfulness invites consideration of the subject. But as a matter of principle, and respect of everyone's rights -- Johnny's and all athletes' -- I don't think it's right for the media to say "I meant no harm or judgement." It's the athlete who will suffer. And they will.


Exactly right. It's one thing to ask Johnny, who's practically begging for it with his outrageous behavior (and I think he's being very smart and admirable about that) and quite another to ask the two or three other figure skaters that one may have suspicions about. They don't bring up the subject, so the journalists shouldn't broach it. It isn't our business in their cases, but in Johnny's case he makes it our business.

Like a lot of actors who hire publicists to get their "private" lives known, Johnny turns his personality into a commodity; he takes the first step here, and knows how to play the game. Other figure skaters aren't doing that. But since Johnny does bring up the issue, journalists have a responsibility to ask. It's their job to gather information, and so they have a right to ask probing questions. Just as Johnny has a right to brush those questions aside.

I also want to mention that I don't think Johnny *should* be outed or come out; Figure skating is a very homophobic sport, and even if he picks up a lot of business from sponsors who want the GLBT market, the judges may still mark him down and seriously hurt his career.

This is where Johnny's really smart, though. By bringing up the issue but refusing to give an explicit answer, Johnny's having his cake and eating it too. He gathers a lot of support from people in the GLBT community who swear up and down that he's one of them, and he still gets to keep the fans who probably know what's going on, but don't want to acknowledge it.

As long as Johnny never gives a final answer on the matter, his uncomfortable fans can blame the media and sympathize with the horrible ordeal their sweet, innocent Johnny is going through. This is how invisible communities survive-- through subtext and innuendo. This is the best way to be going about things right now.

But you know what's really fabulous? Johnny never has to lie or hide who he is. He lets people make of him what they will, and goes about his business.