NBC – now they have!

Yesterday, we reported NBC’s failure to apologise for the homophobia they displayed by their feeble coverage of Matthew Mitcham’s triumph at the Beijing Olympics.



Today, on a happier note, we can report that NBC have done just that – apologised.

Earlier this week, the gay entertainment blog AfterElton.com led the protests about NBC’s coverage, only for the US television network to issue their lame excuses. AfterElton.com pointed out exactly how much time NBC did devote to many other athletes’ personal stories during its coverage of the Games:

Michael Phelp[s]’s record setting eight Olympic gold medals and his relationship with his mother, Usain Bolt’s gold medals and world records, and even Sanya Richard’s relationship with her fiancée who plays for the New York Giants.

Was Mitcham’s win simply not that noteworthy? Given that he single-handedly kept the Chinese from winning every men’s diving gold medal, that explanation is highly unlikely.

At the time, Greg Hughes, a spokesperson for NBC Sports, responded pathetically:

We don’t show everyone. We don’t show every ceremony. It’s not possible to cover the entire personal story of every athlete regarding their performance. It’s just not possible to single out coverage.

However, according to a story in Pink News, Gary Zenkel, NBC’s head of Olympics, has told AfterElton.com that they were at fault:

We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story. We apologise for this unintentional omission.

The story is being widely reported in the Australian media, and you can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

AfterMatthew

Following Matthew Mitcham’s Olympic triumph in Beijing last month, and NBC’s failure to make any reference to the fact that the young Australian was an out gay athlete, AfterElton.com recently conducted a wide-ranging interview with the broadcaster’s Olympic host, Bob Costas.

Mitcham, who was the only out gay male athlete at the games, won gold in the men’s 10-metre platform diving event, preventing a gold-medal sweep by the Chinese men’s diving team. What’s more, he did it in dramatic fashion, winning on his final dive and posting the highest recorded score ever for an Olympic dive by a man!





As we reported here in August:

Mitcham’s journey has not been an easy one. He’s already battled depression, retired while still a teenager after becoming physically and emotionally burnt out, then, nine months later, resumed his sport to build himself into the champion he now undoubtedly is.

But, at the time of the Olympic coverage, NBC chose to ignore all this.

As AfterElton.com points out:

It’s a combination of sports history in the making and moving personal story that usually makes for great Olympic coverage.

Yet during NBC’s two evening’s worth of platform diving coverage, neither Mitcham’s status as the only out gay male athlete, nor his moving personal story was ever mentioned. This dramatic and historic information was instead replaced by the commentators with a vague reference to Mitcham overcoming “personal issues”.

In August, AfterElton.com led the coverage, which was soon picked up by LGBT organisations and publications, including Pink Triangle, around the globe. Everyone was dismayed at NBC’s apparent homophobia. AfterElton.com contacted NBC Sports, who gave an initial response indicating that they had no problem with their coverage of Mitcham, only to later follow that up with an apology when they contacted the broadcaster again.

Now, in the interview with AfterElton.com, Costas talks about gay people in sports generally and about Mitcham specifically, admitting that he – Mitcham – had not been an athlete he’d been focusing on: “But had [I] been, I would have thought [Mitcham’s sexuality] was a worthwhile thing to mention.”

You can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

Johnson & Johnson 1, NBC 0

In our Gay Pride! blog entry on Monday, we praised Johnson & Johnson for awarding Matthew Mitcham a grant through its Athlete Family Support Program so that his partner, Lachlan Fletcher, could be in China to support him while he took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In their coverage of the 10m diving event, the US television network NBC has been taken to task for not once mentioning that Mitcham was openly gay or that his partner was there to support him. Furthermore, during the awards ceremony, when the pair shared a kiss in front of millions of television viewers, NBC did not show it.

AfterElton.com raised the issue with Greg Hughes, a spokesperson for NBC Sports, which has subsequently been picked up by Outsports.com:

When asked why at no point during the coverage did NBC mention Mitcham was gay or that his partner was in the stands, Hughes [told AfterElton], “In virtually every case, we don’t discuss an athlete’s sexual orientation.”

When it was pointed out that in fact the network does exactly that by telling viewers about Olympic athletes’ various spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, and even in one case a heterosexual “love triangle” Hughes responded, “Not in every case. Not every athlete has a personal discussion. I could show you 500 athletes we didn’t show. We don’t show everyone. We don’t show every ceremony.” …

“It’s not possible to cover the entire personal story of every athlete regarding their performance. … It’s just not possible to single out coverage.”

NBC’s lame excuses are pathetic and don’t stand up to even the closest scrutiny (see here, where Outsports.com takes apart each of them). Hughes’s claim that “[n]ot every athlete has a personal discussion” is true of course, but earlier NBC had seen fit to make reference to “personal issues” – Mitcham’s suffering from depression, which had led to his earlier retirement from diving – but had failed even then to add that Fletcher had supported him throughout that period in his life, helping him back into the sport and on to these Olympic Games!

There’s no doubt that Mitcham’s story is unique: the only openly gay man taking part in the 2008 Olympics, the only openly gay male Olympic champion, Mitcham is also the first man to go to any Olympics having come out as a gay man prior to the event!

Given all this, NBC’s last claim, that it’s “not possible to cover the entire personal story of every athlete regarding their performance”, is particularly laughable, especially considering that they did choose to cover plenty of smaller stories – such as a volleyball player who lost her wedding ring, a love triangle involving French and Italian swimmers, countless shots of wives, husbands, girlfriends and boyfriends cheering their straight partners and, wait for it … plenty of shots of weeping, smiling, joyous athletes greeting and kissing their loved ones after receiving their medals!

The Outsports.com piece concludes by saying that they’re “not yet ready to accuse NBC of homophobia”, but NBC has been homophobic. Not just because of its actions on the day but because, unlike Mitcham who had the courage to be out and proud, NBC haven’t had the courage to admit they were wrong.

You can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

Did you see . . .?

If you were watching coverage of the Beijing Olympics, did you see . . .?



As already reported by us here, what you definately did not see on NBC was that when Australian Olympic-diving champion Matthew Mitcham (above) won his gold medal, no mention was made of his being gay, nor were shots shown of his kissing and hugging his long-time partner Lachlan Fletcher.

Of course, as also reported by us here, NBC have since apologised, though a little belatedly, but if you were unlucky enough to be watching their coverage and haven't seen the footage, well, thanks to GayClic.com, now you can!

Blip.tv have made available online an 8-minute video, which shows Mitcham’s final dive, the celebration afterwards where he hugs practically every other diver, the medal-awards ceremony and him jumping into the stands to give his flowers and a kiss to his partner, Lachlan Fletcher.

Note: Mitcham races into the stands at around 6:20.

Matthew Mitcham Olympic Gold Tribute Video

Posted using ShareThis

You can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

Gay pride!

So many stories concerning the treatment of gay people are negative. Day after day, we hear about homophobia directed towards us from individuals, religious organisations, governments or companies. Therefore, it’s great to be able to report something really positive.

Australia’s Matthew Mitcham, the only openly gay male athlete competing in this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, is also now the only openly gay male 2008 Olympic Champion.

Mitcham came out publicly in an interview he gave just weeks ago to the Sydney Morning Herald. At the time, the Australian newspaper described his decision, of being the first Australian to go to the Olympics declaring his homosexuality, as “a historic and courageous step”.

Mitcham’s journey has not been an easy one. He’s already battled depression, retired while still a teenager after becoming physically and emotionally burnt out, then, nine months later, resumed his sport to build himself into the champion he now undoubtedly is.

Lachlan Fletcher, his partner, has been at his side for the entire tumultuous journey, and was there to see the 20-year-old Mitcham (pictured) win a gold medal for the 10m platform diving event. Fletcher received a grant through the Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program so that he could be in Beijing. Mitcham said that they couldn’t afford to pay themselves, so he’d nominated Lachlan as the support person he wanted to go with him. Afterwards, the pair shared a kiss in front of millions of television viewers during the awards ceremony.

Australia’s Golden Boy has done himself proud!

You can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

Matthew Mitcham (un)covered

Golden Boy! Cover Boy!

Just thought I’d let everyone know that the current issue of DNA magazine sports the Australian Olympic-diving champion Matthew Mitcham on its front cover (left).

And very hot he looks, too!

DNA is an Australian gay publication. Click here to preview the online edition, or here to subscribe to the print edition. You can read all our coverage of Matthew Mitcham here.

Stamp of approval

Matthew Mitcham, the Olympic diving champion who dazzled the world with his winning dives at the Beijing Olympics last month, is to be given his own official Australian postage stamp (pictured).

Mitcham, who single-handedly prevented the Chinese from their expected clean sweep in the male diving events, achieved the highest score in the history of the Games! He is the first gay man to have been open and honest about his sexuality before competing in the Olympic Games and, consequently, the first out gay male Olympic champion.

Mitcham was not in the closet to his friends and family, but came out publicly earlier this year following discussions about how the decision might affect his chances of sponsorship. It seems that he needn't have worried.

Chris White, the manager of fellow Australian, swimmer Stephanie Rice, has stated that Mitcham’s sexuality won’t hold back his earnings potential:

It’s about consistency of performance and personality. Swimming is a sport with huge interest in Australia and sponsors are attracted to it.

And according to the Sydney Morning Herald, there has been a great deal of interest in Mitcham from those wishing to secure a deal with him.

You can read all our coverage of the Australian golden boy here.