wow, Roger Federer (Tennis star) is Gay ??

[Telstra]

............. ??

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNrQ-dF6V_M[/ame]

 

[dman9924]

One guy making that statement doesn't make it true. It may be, it may not be.

I find the question they were discussing far more interesting. Should the media state that public figures they are covering are gay? Whether that be sports figures, acters, politicians, musicians, whatever? Some gays would say yes, the more people in the public eye who are recognized as gay, the better off the gay population will be as a whole. Acceptance will become easier.

I still believe a person's sexual orientation is their business and their's alone. When I see an actor or athlete perform, I don't wonder if they are gay. I accept their achievements at face value and move on.

 

[hylas]

i think being gay is your own buisness, until you decide to make your peronal life a public affair by choosing to become an actor/musician/professional athelet/politician etc. as a public figure, you have certain responsibilities, as a role model, and as a representative of whatever group you belong to.

 

[gsdx]

I find the question they were discussing far more interesting. Should the media state that public figures they are covering are gay? Whether that be sports figures, acters, politicians, musicians, whatever?

It's a discriminatory label. Why must they be gay tennis players? Gay public figures? Gay actors? Gay musicians?

Does stating that they're gay make them different people than they were before they were stated as being gay?

There should be no need unless the individuals are doing something publicly for the advancement of the gay cause and only if they themselves proclaim their homosexuality.

 

[Nomenclature]

It's a discriminatory label. Why must they be gay tennis players? Gay public figures? Gay actors? Gay musicians?

Why do we need to have BLACK actors, or FEMALE politicians?

Can't we all recognize ourself as simply sentient organisms, rather than all these labels of gender, race or sexual orientation? All this "I'm gay" business is politically incorrect.

The fact the guy in the video says "my accountant says" lend the whole thing a dismissive, conspiracy theorist quality anyway. I mean honestly, the wife is a lesbian, he's Gay and the whole thing was arranged by Martina Navratalova?

lol It's always "someone who's close to him told me." Have you ever noticed that?

Whether he's gay or not - or any public figure for that matter - it's not the place of the media to "out" them. It is for them to decide when the time is right to out themselves. As far as we know they are all out in their private lives. It's their decision as to whether they chose to publically announce it or not. The issue of "outting" people in the media is more of an ethical issue than it is a legal one in my opinion.

I agree.


We're in kind of a catch-23 situation here, where people can't come out because it could be considered a very bad thing. . .yet very few people are willing to come out as a completely dignified, intelligent human being. The only people we've had do this are Ian McKellen and Neil Patrick Harris, and it apparently didn't go too bad for them.

 

[gsdx]

Why do we need to have BLACK actors, or FEMALE politicians?

Can't we all recognize ourself as simply sentient organisms, rather than all these labels of gender, race or sexual orientation?

Unfortunately, people need labels, whether to show that they are part of the group or far, far away from it.

There have always been labels and I suspect that there always will be. As long as one person is somehow different from another, there will be a label for it.

 

[ChickenGuy]

Strange that so many female tennis stars are gay, but I can't name one male one.

Perhaps because masculine, sporty women are more likely to be gay than masculine, sporty men.

But I would love one day to see, for example, a tennis Grand Slam winner running into the crowd after his victory, to kiss his boyfriend in front of millions.

Or maybe more to the point, for him to do that, and for it not to be any big deal or controversy.

 

[Dduder]

Strange that so many female tennis stars are gay, but I can't name one male one.

Perhaps because masculine, sporty women are more likely to be gay than masculine, sporty men.

But I would love one day to see, for example, a tennis Grand Slam winner running into the crowd after his victory, to kiss his boyfriend in front of millions.

Or maybe more to the point, for him to do that, and for it not to be any big deal or controversy.

You are right about this. In general masculine people, straight men and gay women, are interested in sports, whilst feminine people, straight women and gay men, are not. Steve Sailer has an excellent article on this. Here is a quote from his article:

"At the social and biological levels, sports seem to be diversions from fighting and hunting. That means, they are disputes of masculinity, and the reason why gay men are less interested in sports than straight men is because they tend to be less masculine."

 

[BINOWGAYLATER]

of all the comments in this thread:

I still believe a person's sexual orientation is their business and their's alone. When I see an actor or athlete perform, I don't wonder if they are gay. I accept their achievements at face value and move on.

I agree with all the stuff -- the ridiculous labeling - but it takes a big (gay) man to say I don't wonder if they are gay.
Geeze, im continuously fiddling with my gaydar tuner - and i WONDER about everybody. Now I'm wondering what percentage of folks around here could honestly say the same thing?

 

[freefall]

Strange. Utterly.

Why some people find it hard to believe that abilities and capabilities have nothing to do with someone being gay?

 

[Absolut]

Everything I read, see, and hear from the internet is 100% true all of the time.

 

[Telstra]

Everything I read, see, and hear from the internet is 100% true all of the time.

in the video it was a group of reporters talking in public,
not just someone online making things up like myself ...............

 

[braex27]

From a journalistic stand point, libel or defamation needs to measure up against several criteria, the most important being that it "holds the person up to public ridicule, or loss of face to the majority of the population."

It's one of the reasons so few people actually bother to sue for defamation or libel. It's a bugger to prove and it's more trouble than it's worth 99% of the time.

In the 1990's an Australian singer sued a UK Magazine for saying he was gay. The backlash he received from fans and the GLBT community alike derailed his career. He sued because he felt he was being held to public ridicule by being labelled as gay. Although he won the court case, his career has effectively been shot ever since.

I can't see someone like Roger Federer bothering to sue about something this. The fact the guy in the video says "my accountant says" lend the whole thing a dismissive, conspiracy theorist quality anyway. I mean honestly, the wife is a lesbian, he's Gay and the whole thing was arranged by Martina Navratalova?

Whether he's gay or not - or any public figure for that matter - it's not the place of the media to "out" them. It is for them to decide when the time is right to out themselves. As far as we know they are all out in their private lives. It's their decision as to whether they chose to publically announce it or not. The issue of "outting" people in the media is more of an ethical issue than it is a legal one in my opinion.

I didn't think Jason Donovan ever had a career in Australia, Raven?!

In Australia, suing in defamation is crazy expensive because it has to be brought in one of the superior state courts, and more often than not, plaintiffs will elect to have the matter tried by jury.

The media attention that is garnered by the litigation is generally more invasive than the alleged defamatory statement anyway, so it's never a great option.

 

[bike10]

Even better if he is joined by Nadal!

 

[justdra]

I don't care if they are gay straight or nail anything that moves, thats their personal business. I only applaud outing someone when they are caught talking smack about something they are, as in politicians who talk bad against gays but throw out a kneecap falling to their knees, mouth open, everying they hear a zipper.

 

[swmjck]

The date on the video was a year ago. If there were any truth at all to this I would think it would have been written about someplace. The whole scenario is rather funny, he's gay, the wife's a lesbian and Navritalova set it up.