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Tag: Ian Thorpe

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  • Sport Stars Who Came Out Of The Closet

    Despite there being thousands if not hundreds of thousands of men and women in professional sports, very few have come out as lesbian, gay, bi or transgender.

    We take a look at the brave few who have come out as LGBT over the last couple of years.

    Tom Daley

    Probably one of the most famous coming out stories of recently years. Daley decided to come out as bisexual through a video on YouTube. He later came out as gay on national TV on a Keith Lemon show.

    Gus Kenworthy

    Olympian medalist Gus came out in 2015 in an interview with EPSN.

    Liam Davis

    A high profile footballer, Liam Davis came out as gay in a newspaper interview in 2014. He said,

    ‘I personally hope that over the next 10 years I’m not the only gay footballer out there. Nobody wants to be forced out, but I hope they can look and see there is someone out there who has done it.

    Ian Thorpe

    Swimming champion Ian Thorpe came out as gay in 2014. The gold medal Olympian said, “I’m not straight. And this is only something that very recently – in the past two weeks – I’ve been comfortable telling the closest people around me exactly that.”

    John Fennell

    A then 19-year-old, Canadian Luger John Fennell came out during an interview in which he called hiding his sexuality a ‘suffocating’

    Ian Matos

    A Brazillian diver came out shortly after Tom Daley revealed his sexuality. He came out despite being told to stay in the closet until after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

    Thomas Hitzlsperger

    German born Thomas came out as gay in January 2014. He was a football player for Aston Villa and West Ham.

    Caitlyn Jenner

    Caitlyn Jenner made headlines this year after revealing that she is a woman. She was an Olympian champion known as Bruce Jenner. She is the highest profile professional athlete to ever come out as transgender.

    Sam Stanley

    Sam became the first professional English pro rugby player to come out in 2015.

    Keegan Hirst

    27-year-old Keegan Hirst came out in an interview with the Sunday Mirror.

    David Benson

    David a baseball player in the United States became the first pro baseball player to come out as gay. He did so on the same day that Keegan Hirst came out.

  • Swimming champ Ian Thorpe comes out as gay

    Swimming champion Ian Thorpe has come out as gay.

    Ian Thorpe, 31, who won gold in the 2004 Athens’s Olympics has come out as gay in an interview with Sir Michael Parkinson. After years of denials it seems as Thorpe is finally comfortable with coming out.

    Parkinson was the interviewer that finally managed to get the truth out of Thorpe, asking, ‘You’ve always said that you’re not gay. Is all of that true?’

    Thorpe responded, ‘I’ve thought about this for a long time,’ Thorpe said.

    ‘I’m not straight. And this is only something that very recently – in the past two weeks – I’ve been comfortable telling the closest people around me exactly that.’

    The swimmer who has be bombarded with sexuality questions since the age of 16 had never fully answer the question. He said, ‘I didn’t know at the stage, I was too young,’ he said.

    ‘I didn’t accept it in myself. I didn’t want to be gay. I was still gay at the end of the day.

    ‘Yes, I lied about it. I’m comfortable saying I’m a gay man.’

    Taking to Twitter, Thorpe wrote to his 105,000 followers, ‘To Everyone who has sent a message of support I sincerely Thank you!’

    Thorpe retired from swimming in 2012.

    The support from celebrities from around the world has been coming in thick and fast, singer Troye Sivan who came out last year, said, ‘@IanThorpe you’ve made a gigantic leap for the LGBT community, the sporting community, and for Australia today. #OnYaThorpie :)’

    While openly gay diving champ Matthew Matthew said he was proud of Ian saying, ‘Whatever your opinion, remember that it’s OUR reaction to Ian’s news that determines how easy it is for the next gay superstar to come out.’

    Kath and Kim actress, Magda Szubanski, said: ‘So happy and proud for @IanThorpe Coming Out in his own time on his own terms. Wish you all things good darling boy. It’s fun & free Out here!’