Mitcham Gives GLBT Athletes Cause to Celebrate

A cheerful and unintentional smack in the face to the repressive Chinese regime and to homophobia in sports, out gay diver Matthew Mitcham won the gold medal in 10-meter platform diving in Bejing today. The Sydney Herald Sun included mention of Mitcham’s being the first out gay gold medalist in Olympic history. The Sydney Morning Herald also did an honest feature on him. The Advocate did a cover feature on him. Gay paper the Sydney Star Observer posted a short article about his success.

Read more at cyclizen.blogspot.com.

UPDATE:

It takes a lot for me to weep while watching sports, but that’s how moving his gold-medal diving performance was Saturday in Beijing.

I teared up when he first saw the score from his final five and looked on in disbelief. Then again when a female friend ran up to him backstage at the Water Cube, hugged him and said, “Matthew, you just won the Olympics!” Mitcham looked stunned, and started to sob. The tears flowed later when I watched the medal ceremony and saw someone who had conquered a lot in his 20 years looking like the happiest person on Earth. An openly gay male athlete won an Olympic gold medal. With his boyfriend cheering in the stands. Wow!

By winning the gold medal in the men’s 10-meter platform diving, Mitcham struck a golden blow for gay people everywhere who’ve been told they’re flawed or not good enough, especially in the athletic arena. For all the gay men who have been called weak, sissies, pansies, too emotional, not tough enough to compete in sports, that final dive was for you. Mitcham helped to shatter those stereotypes and brought me to tears thinking about what was possible.

Read more of this at outsports.com.

NBC’s True Homophobic Colors Shine Through

It was disappointing to see NBC not mention anything about Matthew Mitcham’s sexuality. The biggest reason for me is a journalistic reason: It’s a big story. The only openly gay male athlete in Beijing pulled off one of the great upsets at the Olympics in a spectacular fashion. If he had had cancer, or if his parents had been killed in a car crash when he was 2, or if he had just proposed to his girlfriend, they would have mentioned it. But they never showed him hugging his boyfriend, never mentioned it. They referred to “personal problems,” but I’m afraid they decided Matthew’s sexuality was off limits. A real shame.

Read more at outsports.com.

10 out of 10,500 Olympians Prefer to be Openly Gay

Only 10 of the 10,500 athletes competing in the Beijing Olympics are openly gay, according to a study by a gay website.

Some gay athletes fear that coming out would bring disapproval from fans and team mates, others worry about the damage to endorsements, Outsports.com said.

Nine of the gay athletes named by Outsports were lesbians and their sports ranged from fencing to cycling. Just one, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, was a man.

Perhaps he didn’t make it to the medal podium this year, and perhaps he didn’t mean to become a cover boy based on his sexuality alone, but each time an athlete of his stature comes out—whether it be Mitcham, Judith Arndt, Imke Duplitzer or Norwegian power couple Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg—ironically, the less of a big deal it becomes. By capturing the spotlight, if even only for a few months, the world learns that LGBT athletes are competitive and even commonplace.

We still think Mitcham’s story, along with all the out athletes of the Beijing Games, is a victory for gay sports everywhere. And, at only 20 years old, there’s a good chance we could see Mitcham again in London in 2012!

Read the rest at montrealsimon.blogspot.com.

Number of Openly Gay Olympians Drops to 5

The number of openly gay and lesbian Olympians in 2008 has dropped to five, from 11 in Athens in 2004 and seven in Sydney in 2000. Australian diver Matthew Mitcham, is the only male who is openly gay.

You can read about all 5 openly gay Olympic athletes at outsports.com.

Go Down Under the Water with Matthew Mitcham

When Matthew Mitcham arrived at the Sydney Aquatic Centre on a cold June day wrapped in a heavy coat and jeans (it’s winter Down Under), it didn’t seem possible that he’d strip down to a pair of Speedos and willingly dive into water again and again. The Olympic Games were two months away, and the 20-year-old diver with a pierced tongue was (and still is) dead-set on beating his rivals and winning the gold.

He did just that May 11 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, one of the major annual meets put on by FINA, the international governing body for swimming, diving, and water polo. There, at an outdoor pool in windy conditions, Mitcham won the 10-meter platform, his specialty, defeating both 2004 Olympic gold medalist Hu Jia of China and fellow Australian and 2004 silver medalist Matthew Helm. Mitcham, currently ranked third in the world, also beat world number 1 Sascha Klein of Germany.

Click here to watch Matthew Mitcham dive

Or get the rest of this story from the advocate.com.

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