Justice and Equality for Matthew Micham now!

Is Matthew Micham being treated fairly by his fellow Australians and Corporate Australia?

Australian Olympic golden girl Stephanie Rice (after lip locking with American Michael Phelps at the Olympic Village) is fast filling her bank account, having graced the cover of three Aussi magazines, appearing in an OZ reality TV show and topping it off with a turn on the Sydney cocktail circuit.

But where, oh where is the other great Australian star of Beijing, Matthew Mitcham?

A local television channel inked a deal with Rice is worth $700,000 alone. While some would argue that Rice is overexposed, corporate demand for Mitcham has not caught up with his enormous popularity and is in danger of flattening out for the diver. Wonder why? I repeat Matthew Mitcham in enormously popular!

Just like Rice, Mitcham looks like a sponsor's dream: an Olympic gold medal, undeniably articulate and good looking. So what can be the difference?

Oh yes, he's openly gay and proudly introduced his boyfriend along with his Mom after his gold medal fantasticness. Indeed he was reportedly the only gay in the (Olympic) village.

Rice's manager Chris White wishfully argued sexuality would not hold Mitcham's earnings potential back. "It's about consistency of performance and personality. Swimming is a sport with huge interest in Australia and sponsors are attracted to it." Right! More likely Australia is a microcosm of macho homophobia. Even though most macho Australian blockheads don’t have the athleticism that Matthew Mitcham has in his little finger, they couldn’t stomach buying a car that he pitched. It’s just so sad.

Unlike Rice, there have been no mega-buck deals signed with Mitcham, who has already turned down a rumoured $30,000 tell-all offer from Woman's Day.

Ian Thorpe made millions in sponsorship but spent years avoiding the much-conjectured subject of his sexuality. Mitcham publicly outed himself long before Beijing. As a result some marketers say Mitcham's face may never grace a box of children's breakfast cereal as Thorpe's did and as Michael Phelps has done.

Matthew Mitcham is on holiday in France with his yum yum partner Lachlan Fletcher, and is due back in Sydney in October. Friends say he finds the focus on his sexuality "tediously predictable". Hmm, slight chance Matthew Mitcham is not helping his sponsorship cause by being on holiday in France but I digress….

Last week US broadcaster NBC apologised amid claims of homophobia after failing to comment on Mitcham's boyfriend, as it did for partners of heterosexual competitors. NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel said "we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham's story".
Mitcham's mother Vivien previously told an Australian newspaper that her son deliberated about publicly coming out: "He was worried about that factor of sponsorship … But I think everybody has caught up now." The poor, naïve and optimistic Mom. Thinking that your super star son could be treated unfairly is too much for any mother to fathom.

All I can say is that Australia is blowing a big chance to demonstrate that they are more than a maturing penal colony. Matthew Mitcham is a hero on so many levels and deserves to be treated as a hero.

Is Matthew Mitcham the Only Gay Olympian?

There are many and varied claims about the ratio of heterosexuals to homosexuals in the general community. It seems to be generally accepted that approximately 10% of the population is gay. Accordingly, it is unrealistic to think that just 0.1% of Olympic athletes are gay. Somewhere along the way, several hundred gay Olympians went into hiding.

Matthew Mitcham's dignified public appearances with his partner, Lachlan Fletcher, encourages us to ask where and why the others slipped back into the closet. One reason you are more likely to hear about homosexual liaisons in books published long after a sports career is over, is that sponsors and management like to keep it that way! Money talks and money seems to only talk straight. What crap! Crap or not, I will be interested in seeing whether Matthew gets the same sponsorship opportunities as Stephanie Rice.

There is continuing homophobia in sports arenas and in belief that toxic (ie. Lack of sponsorship) follows a gay athlete. The evidence is everywhere. For example, the 1998 suicide of gay UK football star Justin Fashanu and Ian's Thorpe's manager contemplating legal action when two artists portrayed him near the word "gay" in 2004, etc, etc.

Matthew Mitcham is a hero and is right to want to be known for being a great Australian athlete rather than a gay one. His ambition would be much easier to realize if sports communities did more to reflect their 10% reality.

re: Matthew Mitcham, NBC apologizes, sort of

NBC has responded to complaints and claims that its Olympics coverage was tinged with some homophobia.

‘Bout time.

The net's Olympics President, Gary Zenkel, issued an apology for the NBC reporting team's failure to mention on air that gold-medal diver Matthew Mitcham is gay and has a partner, who was there rooting him on. That's in stark contrast to the networks coverage of straight athletes and their partners and families. Think Mrs. Phelps ………

Says the NBC rep:

“We regret that we missed the opportunity to tell Matthew Mitcham’s story. We apologize for this unintentional omission.”

Sorry doesn’t cut it, buddy! And I don’t believe for a second it was unintentional.

NBC's got some ‘splaining to do!