Focus On The Rainbow

In an email earlier this morning I promised Rick, the webmaster and host of Sportsfags, I’d find something to post about today.

As regular readers of Sportsfags and FOTR-Sports know, Rick posts sports stories for the “masses” while I try, for the most part, find something with an LGBT slant or an excuse to show some beefcake which you readers have written via email or comments on postings that you enjoy. Well as you can imagine it ain’t easy folks.

It’s not like these stories from various sources keep popping up like an 18 year-old’s hardon every 15 minutes.

What to do ?  Well I wanted to find something as we wind done Gay Pride Month and find a sport connection.

As they said back in the 60′s, “Houston, The Eagle has landed !”.

In the archives of Out Magazine I found an article about “Sporno” in what was becoming at the time the “co-habitation” of gay porn and sports. Don’t faint Alice, it’s not just about porn as you’ll read.

The beefcake photo by Francoise Rousseau is from the article.

Well, maybe that was once true. But shockingly and rather wonderfully, this fag fantasy appears to be coming “virtually” true. At least in Europe and Australia. Sport is the new gay porn. Sportsmen on this side of the Atlantic are increasingly openly acknowledging and flirting with their gay fans, à la David Beckham and Freddie Ljungberg (the man who actually looks the way Beckham thinks he looks). Both of these thoroughbreds have posed for spreads in gay magazines (see Ljungberg’s story with Out here), and both have welcomed the attention of gay fans because they “have great taste.” More than this, they and a whole new generation of young bucks, from twinky soccer players like Manchester United’s Alan Smith and Cristiano Ronaldo to rougher prospects like Chelsea’s Joe Cole and AC Milan’s Kakà, keen to emulate their success, are actively pursuing sex-object status in a postmetrosexual, increasingly pornolized world.

In other words, they’re not just sports stars, but sporno stars.

And now something for Gay Pride. Here’s a video presentation about Greg Louganis titled “The World’s Greatest Diver Ever”. For all athletes who have come out or will in the future, or even still in the closet, we are all proud of you.

Mission accomplished .. time for a morning dip in the pool as it’s going to be a hot one here in Connecticut today. And some friends wondered why I wasn’t going to NYC to the Pride Parade. Sorry, I’ll sweat in the pool thank you very much.

Hope you had a Prideful Month no matter how you celebrate and remember, be Proud everyday.

According to an article written by Linda Robertson at The Miami-Herald, Greg Louganis will be returning to the pool this time mentoring young divers.

It was only fitting that the pet dogs of the greatest diver in history were running around inside the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

A prominent display space is devoted to the dogs’ owner, Greg Louganis, who donated his five Olympic medals to the Hall of Fame.

Louganis is reuniting with the sport that once defined his life after years of detachment. In fact, he and his four dogs are staying in the parking lot of the Hall of Fame in his 40-foot black and silver Supernova RV, mere meters from the pool where the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix meet is taking place through Sunday.

“It’s our home away from home,” Louganis said Thursday.

Louganis is back in a familiar place. He spent three years diving at the University of Miami and competed often in Fort Lauderdale. He is planning to have lunch Friday with his old coach, Ron O’Brien. He has returned to the pool deck as a mentor to athletes after talking with USA Diving leaders about taking a more active role.

“I wanted to get involved with diving again, but for years I didn’t feel welcome,” Louganis said. “There was a lot of resistance. I think it was homophobia.”

Louganis, who publicly came out as a gay man six years after winning his third and fourth Olympic gold medals at the 1988 Games, met with divers Wednesday night to share wisdom and his phone number.

“The focus on medals hindered performance,” he said. “If you’re always thinking about results, you’re getting ahead of yourself. I stress success instead of perfection.”

Read the full extended article at The Miami-Herald.

I came across an article over the weekend at the OC Register about Greg Louganis and his reflection on his life as he nears 50.

After years of turmoil about being a closeted gay, his strive for excellence in the Olympics and an abusive relationship, one can be nothing but happy for him that he has finally found peace with himself , his life and future.

Before it was “fashionable” to come out, and at the great possibility of losing endorsements, Louganis announced in 1995 he was HIV-positive and wrote his autobiography “Breaking The Surface”.

Before his HIV status became public, He considered injecting himself with a syringe full of air, with one burst blowing away all his demons once and for all. He had a change of heart and slowly came to grips with his disease, only a small group of friends aware of his secret, according to the article at the OC Register.

While it’s not easy for anyone to be in the closet, throw into the mix being of celebrity status and having the knowledge you are HIV-postive with very few people you can trust to talk about your overall situation in life, Louganis certainly deserves another gold medal for making it as far as he has.

Good guys always finish first, it may take awhile, but nonetheless they succeed.

Writer’s Note – This was published at Focus On The Rainbow/Hearst on July 27, 2009 with the original title “Greg Louganis …. One Of The Good Guys”. You’ll find a link to Louganis’ website here.