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In Olympic News: Out Diver Matt Mitcham. He did something unprecedented: He came out as a gay man at the beginning of his career in a judged sport. Oh there were other out athletes competing, but they were in objective sports, ones where how fast, how high, how long, how many points are what matter. Judged sports like diving, gymnastics, and ice skating have a subjective element and as a result are notorious for marking down scores for partisan reasons. Homophobia kept Louganis in the closet during his Olympic runs because it would have knocked down his chances to win and kill endorsement deals he needed to live on. Homophobia still keeps young gay skaters in the closet because they need wins and international exposure so they can make money at it later as pros. (Orser and Galindo were out as Pros. Galindo in particular tended to get hosed in the scoring for being flamboyantly out, but had a huge audience following and stayed popular in ice shows. Orser was towards the end of his pro career and took less of a hit for being outed and looking conservative.)

Matt Mitcham went to the Olympics as a relatively young competitor with a male partner and a tongue stud he shows off in publicity photos. He was competing for Australia in platform diving. By the time for the individual platform dives, the Chinese had gotten every single diving gold at the Olympics and were expected to win. No one was expecting much from the young man from Australia. He dove beautifully, challenging the Chinese at each round, but never quite beating them. He stayed in the medal hunt with the veteran diver from Russia and the gentleman from Cuba. In the final round, the lead Chinese diver messed up a dive, opening a chance that Mitcham seized in a dive of nigh superhuman skill and beauty. The Russian did a beautiful dive, but couldn't touch him, and the other Chinese, looking a little shaken, made errors too.

He one the Gold, not just for Australia, but for every closeted Athlete in every judged sport.

He is a sign that maybe, finally, the homophobic dinosaur judges are finally retiring or dieing off. He is a sign that maybe this coming generation of athletes can compete openly and honestly without the stress of the closet.


Yes, its just sports, but sports is one of the last bastions of homophobia and seeing that crumble piece by piece his a hopeful sign.