Gay.com has an interview with former Olympic figure skater Ryan O’Meara, who apparently came out in an Arizona magazine recently (I couldn’t find anything about it on Google). Anyhow, O’Meara was on the 2006 U.S. Olympic team for ice dancing; he and his partner, Jamie Silverstein (a woman, as the Olympics don’t allow same-sex partners), finished 16th in Torino.
Asked about gays in figure skating, O’Meara said that who’s gay in figure skating is not that important; probably true on a couple levels:
Within the skating community, it’s very public knowledge of who’s gay and who’s not; it’s pretty small. I don’t think it’s publicized because I don’t think it’s that important. Which is understandable, since it doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight to be a figure skater. But I don’t know why there aren’t more out skaters. Most of them are out to the community, so I think it’s more of a privacy issue.
Unfortunately, either Gay.com didn’t ask him about Johnny Weir, or O’Meara wouldn’t answer.
O’Meara is now looking toward a career in interior design. A lot of gay people look for out male athletes to “break stereotypes.” Then there are athletes like O’Meara who reinforce them; and I think that’s great. Gay athletes are just as diverse as we’d like to hope the larger gay population is, and I love seeing stories like this that remind us of that. I just don’t know how we missed him in our Olympics coverage in 2006. I mean, he ditched hockey for figure skating, and his favorite TV show is Will & Grace! –Cyd Zeigler jr.
on Jul 17th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Cyd,
You jerk: “…Then there are athletes like O’Meara who reinforce them”?
What the hell? Why would you just insult this man? So, what if he wants to be an interior designer or is effeminate. Your left-handed compliment reflects the grotesque, hypocritical view that there is a problem with not being “straight-acting.”
If you told an African-American, I think it’s great that you like to play basketball, you would be deserving of strong verbal tongue lashing if not worse, you bigoted jerk. The point is that O’Meara and the hypothetical African-American are both human beings who should not have to be concerned with living their lives to make YOU feel comfortable.
Jeez, somehow, I think my whole point is going go over your head.
on Jul 17th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Noah,
I don’t think that is the case, he is just stating the obvious, and emphasizing how to be an athlete you don’t have to necessarily fit the gay jock stereotype. I thought it was a rather brilliant observation.
on Jul 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Noah,
No one said anything about Ryan being effeminate–YOU brought that into the conversation. So WHO exactly is buying into stereotypes now?
And remember, stereotypes exist because more than a random sampling of us fit them: I myself am a slightly swishy (amateur level) ice dancer! (But I can’t decorate for shit, so that stereotype doesn’t work!)
Asher
on Jul 18th, 2008 at 1:29 am
I, too, agree that people should be encouraged to flower in whatever form they are inclined to take. It is the straight world that pressures people to be a certain conformist way, and I applaud the opposite approach. I grew up a jock. I went through college on a full athletic scholarship. I was also deep in the closet the whole time. It is ironic to me that I envied the “flamers” in school, for whom the closet was not an option from their childhoods, in many cases. No one ever suspected me, except some of my closest friends, who also felt it was important to keep it hidden. So, to me conformism is the enemy. It held me back, because it was easier. But it is not the path to happiness.
on Jul 18th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Noah, I am afraid it’s you that missed the point. I believe what Cyd is trying to say is that our community is just as diverse –within itself– as any community, and the greater community of humankind. We should celebrate that. This clearly is just an observation of Cyd’s …I don’t believe that this was a key point O’Meara was trying to make in coming out.
on Jul 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
As gay (or suspected gay) skaters go, Ryan is hardly effeminate–as if **figure skating** automatically makes a guy effeminate! You didn’t hear a lot about him in 2006 because he was largely overshadowed–on ice and off–by his partner, Jaime Silverstein.
Years ago, Silverstein was the next great hope, she and her partner Justin Pekarek (no, I didn’t spell that right) were magic on ice, the two most talented young ice dancers we had yet seen. When they broke up, the amazingly talented Justin was forced to retire because he could not find a partner and the equally talented Jaime Silverstein disappeared, rumored to be mysteriously ill (later revealed as anorexia).
Fans like me nearly wept to see Jaime back on ice, back lighting up the arena with that 10,000 watt smile, looking like she really loved skating again. Talented as O’Meara is, he was “the guy skating with Jamie Silverstein.” It’s hard NOT to be overshadowed in such a situation.
Anyway, as figure skating goes, O’Meara wasn’t flaming. He wasn’t even “flamboyant.” He was a talented, workmanlike skater. He stood up with one of the best young ice dancers of our time and he didn’t do half bad. Just because he’s a figure skater, doesn’t mean he’s effeminate.
I do wish that skaters would feel more free to come out while they are in their competitive years. But there’s more than the US to consider, there are judges from all over the world with their own prejudices and sometimes you need to fly under the gaydar if you can. It’s good strategy to keep your private life private.
After all, in figure skating, it’s the straight guys who have something to prove.
on Aug 13th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Note to Nick: the “gay world” pressures conformity just as much as the “straight world,” if not more so.
on Oct 16th, 2008 at 7:58 pm