Ian Thorpe still chased by sexual preference questions - Poor guy!

Ian Thorpe has written a book and while on the book tour he has been asked quite often what his sexual preference is. This is bothering him and no matter how many times he definitively answers that he is not gay, his answer is not accepted.

From Yahoo News:

"The thing I find hurtful about it is people are questioning my integrity and what I say... that this is something that I would be embarrassed about, or I would hide," he said in an interview with ABC TV. 

"I don't want to offend anyone, whether they're friends that are gay or whatever else, by getting angry about it, frustrated about it. 

"The only part of it I find frustrating is that people think I'm lying." The five-times Olympic champion said speculation that he was gay had perhaps arisen because he did not fit into the stereotypical idea of how a successful Australian athlete should behave. ..."

[Link]

I don't care that Ian Thorpe is straight. Simply accept Thorpe's answer and move on. My take on outing "gay" people is that it is like a reverse "witch hunt." I mean, not to be crass, because I can be, but "outing" a gay is like having a surprise party at Carnegie Hall for somebody who has stage fright! - like they are going to be thankful right?

My gay friends have a differing opinions on this: One is an art director, another is film director, one does hair, the other one is a vice president at an entertainment company.

These acquaintances tell me they are mostly FOR the "outing" of gay men and women even though they do have reservations about it.  History is filled with tragic examples of those who were "outed" and ended up losing their jobs, being rejected by their families, bullied, etc. etc. The consensus from these acquaintances for "outing" closeted gays is that it reveals that good people can be "gay" and that no one should be defined by who they are attracted to. In other words, there is safety in numbers and the more gay people that are revealed, the safer the individual gay will be because their "tribe" will be recognized.

The Ian Thorpe bio, This is Me, book can be found here: [Link]