You have seen him doing triple axles at the Olympics, winning 3 world championships, and being made fun of on South Park, but Brian Boitano remains a mysterious figure. While we all know the man can skate his way to a gold, the American born figure skater still has question marks regarding his sexuality…PUBLIC examines the mystery that is Brian Boitano!!
Via Google, I’m having a tough time confirming whether or not Brian Boitano is gay. This is weird, right?
The more I think about it, too, the more my mind gets twisted in knots. My thoughts grow clumsy with the weight of a hundred contradictory statements:
“If that man is not gay, I don’t know what gay IS.” – vs – “It’s always possible that he’s straight, like that guy from my college dance group who’s happily married to a nice lady.”
“Shame on him and The Food Network for not taking a stronger stance in support of his sexual preference.” – vs – “A TV personality doesn’t need to be a rights advocate too.”
“Skating has always seemed pretty homophobic.” – vs – “Skating has always seemed SO homosexual.”
“Even if he is gay, it’s not my right to know details of his personal life.” – vs – “Keeping his homosexuality a secret is a clear sign to others that he feels it’s something bad which must be hidden.”
“I still don’t know if he’s gay.” – vs – “How can he NOT be gay?”
Frankly I feel as if life has handed me a queer-politics-meets-pop-culture koan. Koans (to the extent that I understand them) are devices used in meditation designed to lift one’s consciousness. They can be phrases, questions, or concepts, and don’t demand a linear cause-and-effect answer. One example might be “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
What makes this Brian Boitano situation so like a koan for me is that each reaction I have to it is negated by a doubt, and thus I’m having real trouble sorting out how I really feel.
Should Brian Boitano be comfortable talking about his homosexuality to the media?
Yes, but only if he is in fact gay.
Should a celebrity be held to different standards of self-disclosure when they are gay as opposed to when they are straight?
No, but they are anyway, whether for good or bad.
Is there really anything wrong with this situation?
No, but yet I still feel confused and betrayed!
Maybe at the center of this wormhole of thought is the truth about queer media relations, but since nothing in media is anything remotely approaching truth, I’d imagine that looking at this single question is like trying to examine a single amoeba at a microscope whose view is controlled by millions of people simultaneously.
Still, it is weird, right?
-Topher
