Congrats Matthew Mitcham for the gold medal in men’s 10m platform dive!
It’s awesome that an out gay athlete has captured a gold after coming out. Can you believe that out of the 10708 athletes in beijing right now, only one male athlete is out?
That’s insane, and terribly disappointing.
It’s telling that Matthew is 20 years old and some would say probably didn’t know any better to come out when he’s still competing.
Alot of my work is centered on consumer insights, especially on Gen Y consumers, so I’m not surprised to hear Matthew’s shockingly (to us oldies) lassez faire attitudes towards his sexuality.
He “came out” to Australia when a reporter asked him who he’s staying with and he casually mentions his partner Lachlan. This led to a national frenzy as he officially became the first Australian athlete to come out at the height of his career.
Except that he never thought of it as “coming out” – he was already out and had no where else to go out to.
Which hopefully means being gay is not such a big deal to the younger generation.
Progress?
Check out uber cute Matthew standing right next to his partner and mum talking to the press about his gold medal. His interaction with his partner in front of the world press is priceless.
