John Curry: Skating On Thin Ice

One of the authors in contention to win a prestigious sports book award is angry that John Curry, the Olympic figure skating champion, is largely ignored in the debate about homosexuality in sport, despite having the courage to reveal that he was gay almost 40 years ago.

Two of the titles shortlisted for the Cross British Sports Book Awards next week deal with sportsmen and their struggle with their sexuality.Proud, by Gareth Thomas and Michael Calvin, deals with how the former Wales and British Lions captain tried to hide the truth from his team-mates, but according to Bill Jones, author of Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of John Curry, sportsmen such as Thomas and, more recently, Tom Daley, have been able to be honest about their sex lives in a far less hostile environment than that faced by Curry.

“Much as I hugely admire Tom Daley and Gareth Thomas for what they have done through social media or the biography, they are not doing anything that John didn’t do and they are taking far fewer risks because we are ready for it, we can deal with it,” Jones says.

“Homosexuality in sport is still a massive issue, but coming out does not engender the same feelings of isolation that it did for John and the support networks are there now. It’s fascinating that nearly four decades on since he sat in front of Fleet Street and told them he was gay, we still kind of think it is remarkable when someone comes out.

“It’s a bit sad for John that in that debate he gets left out. Part of me feels angry on John’s behalf that he’s not given the credit for that act of courage in 1976.”

Jones says that he has given a great deal of thought as to why Curry’s confession soon after his mesmerising performance at the Innsbruck Winter Games did not do more to speed along acceptance of homosexuality in sport.

“Part of the problem was that we didn’t have the language to have that conversation,” Jones says. “Newspapers didn’t know how to write about it or phrase it. The language was new. People didn’t talk about partners. The press found themselves in a position to ask John questions but they didn’t know quite how to ask them.

“It was more comfortable for John’s confession to just go quietly away. It wasn’t much better when he was dying at home in Warwickshire. The discomfort of the papers: they weren’t sure whether to have a go at an Aids sufferer or feel sorry for them.” ...

The Times.

Ice-skating is the only sport, apart from diving and boxing obvs, the gays are any good at.

Here's a Guardian excerpt from the book.

Winter Olympics: None More Gay!

Back in 1976 when I edited the magazine Sportsworld, then the official publication of the British Olympic Association, I received a telephone call from a Melbourne radio station in the middle of the night following the British figure skater John Curry’s breathtakingly artistic gold medal-winning performance in the Innsbruck Winter games.

“Hi,” said an Aussie voice. “We’ve all been watching your guy John Curry win the Olympics. Isn’t he something? Understand you know him quite well.” I concurred that indeed I did.

“Great. Look, mate, would you mind telling us a bit more about him – we’re all keen to know. Can we go live with an interview now?” “No problem,” I replied.

“OK... We’ve got Alan Hubbard, editor of Sportsworld magazine live from London, who knows this Pommie skater John Curry we’re all talking about... Tell me Alan, is he a poofter?”

I recall I quickly mumbled something about his sexual orientation being his own business. “Well,” came the response, “he sure looks a poofter from here!”

Thankfully, things have moved on since then – even in Australia. But not, apparently, in Russia and, significantly, certain other discriminatory outposts, including Qatar, which follows Russia as World Cup hosts in 2022, and where being gay, as the late Curry eventually revealed he was, is still tantamount to being a pariah...

Alan Hubbard writing in The Independent leading into talking about you-know-what.
Illustrated with the above photo of the "flamboyant" American figure skater, Johnny Weir.

The article is quite accurately titled; For Sochi the future is gay, whether Vladimir Putin likes it or not One certainty is there will be no boycott neither will the games be shifted

Got that?

Regardless of how daft and counter-productive these "demands" were in the first place, they were objectively not going to happen.

It would make a nice change if, just for once, one person calling for people to "do something" about homophobia in Russia had stopped for four seconds and thought things through.

Not that I'm suggesting for one moment that this "debate" has been dominated by a load of idiotic gay hysterics waving their pink pitchforks, you understand.*
It's encouraging that some sane and rational voices are starting to be heard in this thoroughly depressing episode - here's Alice Arnold; Britain's homophobia needs to be tackled before we turn to Russia's.
Quite.

*Check out the usual avalanche of stupidity on Huff Post Gay, and remind yourself why the LGBT movement's fucked.
They've even run an article that asks; Imagine if they'd say that about race.
AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!
Such sophisticated, original and radical political debate, HuffPo!