Former Canadian and Olympic skating star Elvis Stojko says he does not hate gays and blamed this perception on what he said was bad editing in a TV piece on efforts by Skate Canada to butch up the sport. Stojko made his case in a Toronto Star column.
“There’s been such a backlash,” a stunned Stojko complained to the Star yesterday. “Hey, I’m the guy who used to get hammered for being a strongman-type skater. Now people are saying I hate gays. It’s just become so ridiculous.”
Skate Canada’s campaign, “Tough,” is designed to stress the athleticism in men’s figure skating, while deemphasizing the costumes and other glitter than often surround it. However, the way it was promoted was seen by many (including our readers) as code for “no gays welcome.” Stojko’s comments on an ABC News segment this month added fuel to the fire.
Stojko is annoyed that a 15-minute interview for ABC was chopped down to sound as if he was knocking figure skating as effete. “What I was talking about was the masculinity and power which I think is being lost with so much emphasis put on artistry, because that’s what’s being showcased now. I do think the sport is getting soft. But I wasn’t talking about gays or the sport being effeminate. …
“All that artistry is important. But the meat and potatoes of figure skating is still the jumps, taking those risks. And yes, I do think if you concentrate too much on the feminine side of skating, then you will lose the male crowd. And sometimes it does look as if the skaters are trying to outduel each other with their costumes.”
I don’t know much about Stojoko beyond the fact that he once skated for Canada in the Olympics and is now 37 and living in Mexico. I don’t know anything about his views on gay people, but he does seem very strident in emphasizing what he sees as the masculine parts of the sport.
“It has nothing to do with your sexual preference,” Stojko [told the Toronto Sun in February]. “It’s all about what men’s skating is — power and strength. Whether he’s gay or straight, it doesn’t matter. It’s what you’re showcasing on the ice. If you’re very lyrical and you’re really feminine and soft, well, that’s not men’s skating. THAT IS NOT MEN’S SKATING, OK? Men’s skating is power, strength, masculinity, focus, clarity of movement, interpretation of music.”
“Sexual preference”? Cringe. I ask skating fans reading this– do you take Stojko’s comments at face value or do you see an anti-gay subtext in them?
on May 15th, 2009 at 11:15 PM
As a Canadian, (could you tell?) I would have to say that Stoijko is not being anti-gay in any sense. I do see perhaps some anger in his comments, but the CAPS-LOCK STYLE OF WRITING is not always properly interpreted. If you’re a figure-skater, especially one from Canada, odds are you are going to be tolerant. At the end of the day however, the effeminate nature of the sport may have given him a hard time being able to showcase his masculinity, who knows?
on May 16th, 2009 at 3:55 AM
If anyone with a brain read the article they would know that taking that little tiny bit and putting it out of the context it was in was just a way to make it inflammatory, when there was nothing to inflame! First of all, the WRITER chose to put those words in capital letters, not’s Elvis’s, he had no more control over that then he has control of me putting this is capital letters: ELVIS STOJKO IS NOT NOR HAS HE EVER BEEN ANTI-GAY! I would also say he has no choice in how a “news” station edited a piece they did on him.
Same old story up there, he takes a chance and speaks out on how he believes a sport he helped shape should be, and it gets turned into something this ugly? I thought Canadians were supposed to be NICE????
As far as the costumes go the 2 years he got the silver medal at the Olympics I called the gold medal winners- since I could not remember their real names “doilyhead” (because it looked like someone place a tea doily over his head) and “vinyl giraffe” (you had to see the costume, this one was self explainitory). As far as I know one of the men is these costumes that I myself percieved as ridiculous and unmanly is perfectly straight, if not someone needs to tell his wife quick.
on May 16th, 2009 at 7:14 AM
The only reason I wrote one man is because I have not read anything to say that the other man is gay OR straight, and I don’t want to make an assumption about someone I do not know.
on May 16th, 2009 at 7:27 AM
I don’t know if he hates gays or not…but he sure seems to be bothered by the fact tjhat people may think HE’S gay because he’s a figure skater. And when he says “then you will lose the male crowd” is he really so delusional to think that straight men watch men’s figure skating?
on May 16th, 2009 at 8:02 AM
I get what he is saying, although he is not adapt at saying it and maybe outdated in his thoughts about masculinity and gender roles. He just seems to think that male staking is about raw physical power which he equates to masculinity and less about the artistry, which to a degree he feels necessary, but its trending towards a much higher level of artistry and costumes, etc.. which he sees as feminine.
… and so continues the debates about masculine vs feminine and its relationship to gender and sexuality. Nothing new here. I’m not supporting this, but just saying it exists and this is just an extension of that as society struggles to put context on gender and sexuality.
on May 16th, 2009 at 9:56 AM
I kind of agree with him…I wish they would just eliminate the whole costume thing entirely. Have all the men dress the same and find out who is actually the best SKATER. This might actually help guys like Johnny Weir…the judges who deduct points from him because of his sometimes overly flamboyant costumes would be forced to judge the actual skating. Save the silly, frilly costumes for the exhibitions.
on May 16th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
eliminating the whole costume would not really be appropriate
. I think the skater has the right to express himself artistically. I watch and even the guys that are more “artistic” can all do the required jumps. On the flip side watching a guy that was wearing a plain uniform just coming on the ice with no artistry and doing a quad jump is not really that entertaining.
on May 16th, 2009 at 6:25 PM
I was/am a fan of Elvis Stojko. He wasn’t easy to watch, however. His black costumes and wide stature were kind of boring, to say the least.
I agree that Johnny Weir probably lost some critical points because he couldn’t suppress his flamboyance. We admired him but he doesn’t know his audience that well, it seems.
That’s the problem facing American Idol finalist, Adam Lambert. He is head and shoulders above his rival in talent, but the people who vote have a hard time with his flamboyance!
We’ll find out next week.
on May 17th, 2009 at 12:50 AM
“Seen by many including our own readers”? Um, from an editorial point of view, Outsports.com has conveniently absolved itself from this zealous perception. It is just as guilty as its readers for seeing this as code for “no gays welcome”. In fact, it seems Outsports helped to fan the flames. I mean, I agree with the following comments, but Cyd Zeigler’s article from February 3rd, 2009 includes this language:
“…a bunch of questions arise from the campaign. Is Skate Canada trying to discourage gay men from entering figure skating? Do they not want men who are effeminate? And what are the effeminate men in skating supposed to think of this new campaign that is clearly aimed at distancing the sport from them?”
on May 17th, 2009 at 5:20 PM
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Why does skating have to be “masculine? anyway?
Why can’t their be a sport for effeminate men?
on May 17th, 2009 at 6:08 PM
I’m pretty sure that if he hated gays he would have gone for a different sport. Hockey, say. And I don’t think Skate Canada’s trying to alienate the gays, either. Even from a business perspective it makes no sense to alienate a group that’s been loyal for decades.
on May 18th, 2009 at 3:53 AM
I agree with one thing, the man that can fascinate the crowd without the use of a costume, using let’s just say jeans and a t-shirt, should be the one that wins.
I also think that while yes there are gay men in the sport, it is not a sport about gay men! There are actually many more straight guys in there then gay. Also no one ever said there could not be a sport for effeminate men (but if you do this it could bring up an arguement for inequality, you would have people out there saying it’s not a sport because it’s only for effeminate men), but why turn figure skating into that sport when it was not meant to be that in the first place?
When you guys hear him say power and masculinity why can’t a gay man be those things? I think they can! I have seen gay skaters who are those things! I can also fully understand him being upset about the fact that here is someone who broke 2 world records in the sport by pushing the sport to it’s limit (and THAT is what the SPORT of figure skating SHOULD be, just like every other sport) by doing quad/double and quard/triple combos has had to watch that sport turned into a watered down version of what it once was when he was competing and being upset that the World’s was won without a quad even being attempted.
Think about it, what other sport do you know where the level of competiton goes DOWN over time? Runners don’t go SLOWER then they did 10 years ago, they go faster, correct?
on May 18th, 2009 at 4:05 AM
Also years ago Rudy Galindo did this tour in Canada where he skating to music from the Rocky Horror Picture show dressed as Frankenfuter. I heard from my friends up there how funny it was, so when he came down here with Champions on Ice i was really looking foward to seeing. Only problem, the COI tour didn’t LET HIM PERFORM IT! Why? They thought it was too riskee for him to do with kids watching. I had to wait for a tape of the Canadian tour to see it.
Anyone want to guess what the tour was called? Anyone?
THE SK8 with ELVIS tour!!! Give you 20 bucks if you can guess who was the star of that tour!
on May 18th, 2009 at 5:36 AM
What Stojko calls “clarity of movement, interpretation of music” could also be called dancing. Which is considered, guess what:
G-A-Y
by many who are uninformed. Why do you think so many ballet dancers who are straight use to go out of their way to emphasize their sexual orientation?
If gayness could get them a job straights would be F-L-A-M-I-N-G.
on May 18th, 2009 at 6:19 AM
I never said that the sport should only be about effeminate men. I said why can’t there be a sport for them. Skate Canada and Elvis are the ones who seem to have a problem with labels. They are the ones worried about perception. Masculine, effeminate who cares. Let who ever wants to skate, skate. If you’re good enough to skate then you skate.
Effeminate men can be strong just like masculine men.
on May 21st, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Scott, I agree with you, i believe that emffeminate men can be strong just like masculine men, which is why if they perform at the SAME LEVEL as those men percived as more “masculine” (ie…doing the same level jumps as everyone else as well as artistry) then they should have every chance to win in the SAME competition.
I think what happened here was that some people didn’t really read what he wrote, which was more of a “hey give the skaters with a more “masculine” style a chance”, and change what artistry means. It’s not about excluding a certain style of artistry (or a sexual orientation) at all, it is just about him asking the skating world to change it’s views on what they called artistic to INCLUDE his style as well.
Like I have said before, Martial Arts has the word ART in the title!!!
I for one have enjoyed many different skaters and would like to see them ALL have gotten scores I felt they deserved (the battle of the Brian’s would have come out different if left in my hands to judge, which would have pissed my whole country off!). One of my beliefs is also that NONE of the Canadian skaters are ever really given the credit they deserve (Orser, Browning, Stojko, Borne & Kraatz, Sale & Pelltier, Dubreil & Lazon etc…). I have no idea why, all of them had to be on the scene years before they got (if they ever did) what they deserved.
Anyone want to look into THAT for me?
on May 21st, 2009 at 12:25 PM
I do want to ask one question and get it answered seriously.
Has ANY GAY MALE that posted here EVER thought that Elvis was gay? I would think you have better radar then me on that and I knew he was straight the first time I saw him skate at the 91 Worlds. I was only 17 and didn’t get complete confirmation of this until many years later because so few articles I read mentioned his personal life, don’t think I read one with the word girlfriend in it until my mid twenties but I still knew he was straight. I figured everyone knew that!
Also dancing can be considered gay (I agree, I have heard this from many straight guys, usually means “I can’t dance for shit so I will call it gay”, they tend to do that alot) yet a straight guy that can dance gets the girls, explain that one to me too!
on Jun 6th, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I don’t think Elvis’ commentary has anything to do with sexual orientation at all. The problem here is that when anyone has an issue with effeminacy, they are automatically seen as homophobic. This kind of reaction reinforces the “homosexual=effeminate” stereotype.
As a guy who worked as a professional dancer in my youth, I can totally understand where Elvis is coming from. Dance–for men especially–requires a balance of athleticism and artistry. You can’t have one without the other. But the artistic part is about communicating with the audience, and the athleticism (the movements) is the media for that communication. Costumes, scenery, lighting etc. all enhance the communication, but they are not what the performance is all about.
Ballet is about the dancing, not the tights. Same goes for figure skating. And I agree that things are somewhat out of balance with men’s figure skating in this regard.
on Jun 8th, 2009 at 2:42 PM
The comments posted by Elvis were pig-ignorant and homophobic. Just read them. Well, the numbers are crashing for basketball, too. Is it not masculine enough, either? Make excuses for Elvis and you sound just as naive and dumb as he is. Case closed.
on Jun 12th, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Terry, deciding you know what someone else’s thoughts and feelings are when you don’t know that person is what makes someone naive and dumb, case closed.
on Jun 14th, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Laurie, all Terry wrote is just READ Stojko’s comments. That’s what written and spoken comments are for, Laurie: to know what someone else’s thoughts and feelings are about a subject.
If you want to decide what someone is thinking and feeling on a subject, READ and LISTEN to their comments about that subject. Get it, Laurie?
on Jun 17th, 2009 at 11:03 PM
Not when you take them out of context and don’t read the entire interview he did (it was only a short paragraph of a long article) and also a TV interview chopped down into a few monutes when the interview was alot longer then that or any of the follow up articles afterward.
When a site uses 2 different articles and only use small parts of each and then add an interview that has been cut down then you don’t really have all the written and spoken comments that someone actually said, you have what people want to take from those articles and turn them into inflammatory sound bites to give the readers the controvercy they seem to want.
I restate what I said, deciding you know a person’s feeling and thoughts when you do not know them and are using small bits of information about them that makes someone naive and dumb to the subject they are talking about.
I have read all articles about this, what started it, the ABC clip that was butchered in my opinion and the articles when he had to back to the press to “defend” himself. I cannot see any single gay-bashing word in any of it.
He has been a legend and huge role model in Canada and the skating world for years, you really think if he was homophobic it would come out after more then 25 years of skating. Just take a look at who his role models are.
I am just saying don’t believe what you see in print or in a new clip that has been edited, they are usually edited in the way the press wants the story to roll (the if it bleeds it leads policy) and the only way to turn this story into that was to throw the word gay into it.
I can’t stop you from thinking he was homophobic but I wish you would be open minded enough to think about him and his entire career and friendships before you judge him because a few websites are telling you to judge him.
Let’s put it this way, I am a photog and shot a Jon Bon Jovi concert right after Richie Sambora got out of rehab, he was still a little puffy and bloated but I still got some really good shots. The media source wanted to see all my prints, not just my good ones, bad ones too. I got curious and asked why, they said they wanted an edgier picture. When I noticed they were forcusing on Ritchie my antenna went up, they pulled a shot out and mumbled that it would be perfect. When I saw the shot Richie looked drunk out of his mind in the pic, he wasn’t it was just the way the shot came out. Turns out they were going to try and do a story about how Richie wasn’t ready for being out of rehab and about his ex and this current pic was to show how his life was a mess and showing in his shows. IT WAS NOT TRUE, it was one of the best live shows I ever saw. I refused to sell them the picture because I was not going to profit about a false story about someone in one of my favorite band. I lost my photo credientials with that source that cut my income way down but I would do it in a heartbeat all over again. I wasnt a papparrazzi and I wasn’t going to act like one.
Unless you live inside someone, you will never know what is in their heart and soul.
on Jun 17th, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Wait, are you trying to tell me that Elvis Stojko is straight? Come on now
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Finally someone with a sense of humor on this matter! Thanks Boomer! Sorry to say us chicks got this one. You can totally have Tom Cruise, they are the same height!
on Oct 29th, 2009 at 11:51 PM
As a musician, I totally understand what Elvis is trying to express. In music, the extremely diverse moods/feelings/messages of the composer are to be conveyed by the performer/interpreter. When an actor interprets a script, the success in delivering a convincing reading is wholly dependent upon the actor’s chops. Likewise, the performer/actor/skater portrays strength, nobility, sensitivity and nuance as the music/script/choreography calls for. The audience, in most instances, can tell if the delivery is genuine. Straight or gay, a talented interpreter should be able to portray the correct character of the piece/routine/program/dance/role. Figure skating is both art and sport. A successful program is when the proper blending of both elements makes for a convincing and exciting performance. Too much of one and not enough of the other is not good. The same holds true for dance, music, painting, etc. One final thought: the performer must realize/accept their abilities and/or limitations. Remember Nathan Lane in The Birdcage? He played a flamboyantly gay character who could not act straight if his life depended on it.
on Feb 21st, 2010 at 3:04 PM
I was so disappointed while watching the mens long program, a few jumps, but no back flips, no Toller Cranston moves, lots of just plain twirling the programs are not evolving they are backsliding it was like watching skating from the Sonja Henny days..bravo to the old champions but lets keep it moving forward.and what is with the men wearing gloves?