Olympic champion swimmer and all-round Aussie icon Ian Thorpe is a little bit nervous.
On Saturday evening, the “Thorpedo” will seem on the Optus float on the Sydney Homosexual and Lesbian Mardi Gras – the primary time he is been on a Satisfaction float since he got here out in 2014.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Ian Thorpe’s psychological well being message for younger Australians
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So, why has it taken him so lengthy?
“I have been concerned with Mardi Gras earlier than, however not really on a float,” the Olympian, TV commentator and youth psychological well being advocate instructed 7Life.
“I feel with WorldPride being right here (in Sydney) this yr, it is the appropriate time and the appropriate stage to do it.
“However it is a bit of a stretch for me, as a result of I am really an introvert.
“Folks by no means imagine that of me, as a result of I have been watched on TV by hundreds of thousands of individuals, I’ve carried out in entrance of 1000’s, , I am pretty excessive profile.
“However it can be crucial for me to do that – as a result of if you cannot see it, you’ll be able to’t be it.”
Thorpe cannot give an excessive amount of away about what punters will see on the Optus float, however he does reveal a little bit tidbit – that it’s going to have a “nautical” theme.
Pressed on what he’ll be sporting, all Thorpe would say, jokingly, is: “As an example I am going to positively be sporting an outfit.”
“Optus is a champion of range and inclusion, well-being and sustainability, so I am simply actually grateful that I am in a position to do that with them,” he added.
So, what does Mardi Gras imply for Ian Thorpe personally? Why is Mardi Gras nonetheless vital?
“I got here out virtually 10 years in the past now,” he mentioned.
“And Mardi Gras has all the time given me this understanding and perspective on what it is prefer to be queer on this nation.
“I’ve met with a few of the 78ers (these concerned within the first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978), and I am very conscious that this initially began as a protest.
“That is continued now right into a celebration and part of what this nation is, of who we’re.
“It is a spot the place persons are welcomed, the place sexuality should not matter, what your background is, what your religion is, all of these issues.
“It is about being able to rejoice multiculturalism too, with each aspect of what which means.
“I really like that Mardi Gras represents communities proper throughout the nation, from the bush to the suburban avenue, and our First Nations individuals too.”
In a time the place phrases like “non-binary” and “genderfluid” have entered the on a regular basis lexicon, it is easy to really feel like all of the limitations have been damaged down and that the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood not has to cope with hate, discrimination or drawback.
However that is merely not the case, as Thorpe nicely is aware of.
“I feel individuals assumed when marriage equality occurred that it was, ‘okay, nicely that occurred, we’re supportive of our homosexual brothers and sisters’,” he mentioned.
“However there are nonetheless loads of points that the queer neighborhood faces and there is nonetheless discrimination, sadly.
“We simply must make it possible for we do not take a step backwards.
“Mardi Gras is a reminder that we should preserve marching on, marching ahead to what true equality appears like.”
Thorpe nonetheless remembers one thing a pal mentioned to him after he got here out virtually a decade in the past.
“He mentioned, ‘you being out could make it simpler for somebody going by way of circumstances which might be tougher than what you had’,” he mentioned.
“‘You would assist make their journey that little bit simpler.’
“I used to be extremely fortunate; the response from my household was one in all love.
“However I do know that is not all the time the case for everybody.”
Thorpe has difficult emotions in regards to the intense scrutiny he was subjected to within the media previous to his popping out.
It was a troublesome time for the swimmer, who was thrust into the highlight as an adolescent as he was nonetheless figuring out his sexuality.
“The quantity of strain that you just expertise is immense, and I feel I used to be inappropriately requested (about his sexuality) as a minor,” he mentioned.
“It modified my whole notion of what it’s to be homosexual, as a result of I used to be being ‘accused’ of being homosexual.
“Even that terminology, ‘accused’, I imply it is unfavorable, it assumes that it is one thing ‘fallacious,’ and for somebody who was nonetheless an adolescent, it actually does complicate issues.
“Mix that with being a high-profile athlete and the expectations round that – that I positioned on myself, that everybody else round me anticipated of me – and it was simply an excessive amount of to deal with.”
Thorpe believes it’s a lot simpler now to be overtly homosexual in sport, however once more, there’s nonetheless work to be accomplished.
“It’s a lot simpler than it has been beforehand, and feminine homosexual athletes have actually led the way in which,” he mentioned.
“Then I have a look at somebody like (rugby league) participant Ian Roberts, who remains to be mainly the one out participant in rugby league.
“Some individuals do not need to be out, and that is okay, too.
“However after I do see an athlete who’s popping out, I normally ship them a message and congratulate them.
“I do know that them being out goes to make another person’s life rather a lot simpler, as a result of athletes usually occur to be function fashions for individuals.”
Thorpe is one in all 45 “Rainbow Champions” at WorldPride 2023 in recognition of his work supporting the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood.
Every week in the past, he posted a black and white picture of his youthful self to Instagram forward of the large occasion.
“Sydney WorldPride about to kick off and I am feeling like an adolescent once more!” he wrote.
His followers and followers mentioned they could not wait to see him get entangled – however hoped he was feeling the thrill, fairly than the stress, that got here alongside along with his teenage years.
“Get pleasure from each second,” one fan wrote.
“Glad Mardi Gras!” wrote one other.
“Lovely human, then and now.”
“You go buddy,” wrote a 3rd.
“Australia and everybody loves you.”
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