Before I get into this, I have no information as to whether the kid’s gay, straight, bi or asexual. I have no idea. That’s not the point. In fact, his Facebook page says he’s interested in women, so I’ll take that at face value. But listening to American diver Thomas Finchum in an interview after one of his dives during the Olympic Trials a couple weeks ago certainly – how can I say – perked up my ears. And when I saw him stretching before one of his dives, all that was running through my head was “Strike a pose, there’s nothing, to it, Vogue” . . . well, I had flashbacks to the last Winter Olympics, and I started wondering if we may have found this summer’s Johnny Weir.
The kid’s a total diving stud. He finished second in the platform at the Olympic Trials, he’s won various diving competitions, and he and his buddy David Boudia (his longtime friend and synch-diving partner in Beijing) won the Pan American Games for synch diving last year. And he’s got a great attitude and a great smile. Just like Weir, he’s got an instant fan in me.
Best of luck to the kid, and I do hope he has a fabulous Speedo and some big Grace Kelly sunglasses in store for us this August! –Cyd Zeigler jr.
NBCOlympics.com has a couple videos of him . . .
Finchum talking about barely missing the 2004 Olympic team (when he was 14!)
Finchum’s six 10m dives at the 2008 Trials
on Jul 10th, 2008 at 6:54 PM
I actually thought the same thing a few years ago when I heard him on an interview. I didn’t compare him to Johnny Weir, but the sound of his voice makes his orientation intriguing. His diving buddy, Boudia, sure is a hottie though
on Jul 10th, 2008 at 8:28 PM
Let’s be blunt. There is not one heterosexual bone in Thomas Finchums body. It’s funny because we were talking about him about a week ago on another forum. I’d never heard of the kid before so I looked for a couple of interviews and heard him speak and watched him move.
ummm…… yeah. He’s not straight. One of the points made on the board was that he could be one of those mythical heterosexual guys who’s just very effeminate. I made the point that I had never met a very effeminate guy who was in fact straight and then a few other people spoke up and said the same thing.
on Jul 10th, 2008 at 10:42 PM
I can’t watch the videos, apparently, because in order to watch videos at NBCOlympics.com I have to install some Microsoft program and, frankly, I don’t want to. But is this guy into fashion or shopping or anything that Johnny Weir is interested in? Or is this whole thing merely based on his sounding effeminate?
on Jul 11th, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Joe I dare you to watch or listen to this kid and tell us he’s anything other than gay.
Why is it so bad to state the obvious. Being gay isn’t bad.
on Jul 11th, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Okay, so if I were to watch one of the videos (which I very deliberately am not going to do), it sounds like I’d agree that the kid is effeminate and therefore, I’d probably think that he’s probably gay. But so what? And I know that we all probably agree, “so what . . . it doesn’t matter.” ANd I know that certainly no one in this comment stream is maligning or deriding the kid because he’s effeminate and, we think therefore, probably gay.
But you know, these conversations still really make me angry. There is the unspoked but clear subtext that people who are gay HAVE to be out, and that men who do not conform to our society’s stereotype of manliness or masculinity, men who are “effeminate,” MUST be gay. Well, I beg to disagree on both counts.
I think one larger thing that our LGBT struggle for acceptance should be about is people’s right to be whoever or whatever they are without being judged and without being catalogued. An element of that is liberating people to not feel or be forced into strictly binary categories of gay or straight. As well, I think what our community at its best stands for is the notion that gender roles are not black and white. But the comments that precede mine go starkly the other wat.
Have you thought that:
Maybe this 18 YEAR OLD BOY is confused and hasn’t decided what his sexual orientation is?
Maybe this young man isn’t ready to come out even if he knows he’s gay?
Maybe that he is one of the not stereotypically masculine men whi is in fact straight? And trust me, folks, there are a lot of them.
Maybe that it’s none of our business and that we’re engaging in sort of demeaning speculation about another person’s private life? (And no, I don’t care that he’s a kind of public figure. He’s a world class amateur athlete who wants to win medals, I don’t think that SHOULD fairly make his whole life fair game for public discussion.)
There is nothing about what I am writing that means to suggest (nor do I for a minute think) that there would be anything shameful for this young man about his being gay if he were. But let’s face it, sexual orientation is not yet a trivial aspect of a person’s personality and identity. It’s not like hair color (and how many of us LIE about that, I ask you honestly!).
Someday maybe it will be. And people’s inclination to be more rather than less casual and matter-of-fact about it in the future will help get us to that point. On a macro level we can all hope for that. But in the meantime, on this micro level, this is an individual person we’re talking about. And I would defend to great extents his right to say he is whatever he wants to say he is. It’s personal. Leave him alone.
on Jul 12th, 2008 at 8:29 PM
I for one never said he should come out. He can stay in the closet for as long as he likes.
My only point was that despite his stated appetite for women(facebook?). He is in fact gay. At least I’m 99.99% sure he is.
I don’t know him and I don’t want to contact him so I don’t see how stating the obvious is messing with him. The fact that he’s gay makes him more interesting to me as a gay man. I’ll follow his progress in the Olympics now.
on Jul 13th, 2008 at 1:14 PM
You don’t know him and you don’t want to contact him, but you KNOW he’s gay for a fact? No, only 99.99 percent. Give me a break.
on Aug 2nd, 2008 at 9:09 AM
Another aspect of his life is that he is a man of faith. It is possible that his morals overrides his sexual activity but not his orientation. Not looking for the ‘can a gay man be a Christian’ debate; just bringing another issue into this discussion. And thankful my private life is not open for public debate. Thomas is a superb athlete, talented and dedicated; unfortunately that makes him a target as well.