Let’s be honest. Figure skating is the gayest competitive sport around, (Just ask Dick Buttons about The Rambles in Central Park) but apparently Johnny Weir is too gay!
GLAAD reported yesterday that a source told them that the Stars on Ice Tour, whose sponsors (Smuckers and IMG Entertainment) didn’t want homogay Weir part of their spandex and sequin machismo fest. Because he’s “not family friendly.”
And today Johnny Weir himself has responded to Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush about reports that the ‘Stars on Ice Tour’ is refusing to invite him:
“It’s for real. All because I am not family friendly enough. I understand I am a little outrageous but I wish I could perform for the fans…Maybe right now, just artistically and creatively, I’d love to have my own show, with musical acts, like maybe getting Lady Gaga! I don’t like to think there are any boundaries. Anytime you get men in glitter it’s flamboyant!”
As GLAAD notes in a post that this website actually found worth repeating, “To say that Weir is ‘not family friendly’ would be a clear jab at his perceived sexual orientation. (No shit!) Weir is extremely involved with his family. He is putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working. Weir’s dedication to his family can be clearly documented in the Sundance series, Be Good Johnny Weir, which follows him and his family and friends through his life and career as a championship skater.”
Moreover, Weir is arguably the best athletic role model around right this minute. Weir is a humble athlete, an eloquent public speaker, and an absolutely fantastic diplomat to young people. Not only is his skating talent unquestionable, but Weir is the roll-with-the-punches, speak-out-against-wrongs, work-your-hardest, and be-proud-of-yourself type that we should only hope fellow athletes aspire to be.
Weir isn’t the guy who kids should be hidden from. He is the guy families we be lucky to rally around.
Oh and if Scott Hamilton, the married heterosexual figure skater, who is the producer and co-founder of Stars On Ice. is involved in this crap, we’ll have his head.
*GLAAD circulated this petition on their blog. The signatures will be used to confront the sponsors of SOI. Please help add to the numbers and sign.
http://www.gopetition.com/online/34546.html
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