MY COMMENT ON: JOHNNY WIER

Are you calling Johnny a douchebag? That's how I began my comment.

I saw the promo (see below) for Johnny's new series on the Sundance Channel on numerous blogs, I watched the promo and then I watched the show and was impressed. Then I saw his third place performance at Nationals (on Joe.My.God.) which qualifies him to represent the US at the 2010 Winter Olympics. When I read the comments left on Joe's post my blood began to boil. I checked to see if somehow I had been redirected to some Wingnut, homophobic website because of all the vile hate thrown at this young man.

The first episode of Be Good Johnny Weir is really a documentary, Pop Star on Ice, of how and why he got into skating and how he won 3 national title in 4 years and then lost a 5th national title in a tiebreaker. But it also shows his relationship with his fans, with his coach, with his mother, with his hometown, with his BFF Paris who he interviews while in a bathtub together, with other skaters, with Russian skating coaches, with the media and with the skating federation.

I really knew nothing of him before watching this show now I can say that this boy defines the word FIERCE! And not in a two snaps and head flip way but in a head strong, determined, I'm gonna be me and I don't care what you think way and this takes guts, brains and confidence. He has a very defined POV and lives it. He speaks his mind, maybe too quickly, but he takes responsibility for it and has no regrets. To go with all this, his is beyond talented and an amazing athlete.

I just don't understand the kind of hate I read in the comments on Joe.My.God. I'm sure that 95% of the haters knew nothing more about him then the costume he wore at the nationals and maybe the photo I posted at the top of this post. They know nothing about what motivates him, where he came from, how he got there or where he wants to go. For the record, Johnny is obviously a very flamboyant person but has neither confirmed nor denied his sexual orientation which is his right to do. How many of us came out at work in our teens or early 20's?

Don't like Johnny, fine, but to vilify him and hate him is unnecessary and speaks more about one's own internalized homophobia then it does anything about Johnny. How can we expect GLBTi people to be completely equal and accepted if we aren't capable of doing it our selves. Watch the show and see if you don't agree with me. While he may not look or act like your ideal hero (what does an ideal hero look like?), he is a hero and deserving of praise not scorn.

BE GOOD JOHNNY WEIR PROMO

JOHNNY'S NATIONAL PERFORMANCE