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Pride and joy for both your daughter and her LGBT parents
Learn more about the cultural issue that has become such a rift in Canada.
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Whether you’re a fan of sporting events, a proud swimmer or an athlete with an especially high standard of achievement, try to imagine receiving a National Anthem replica jersey for your sports team or how much fun it would be to attend the Olympics just to sell your clothing on eBay.
Like those two burning questions, fans of U.S. Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay and his partner remain firmly on one side of a dispute over their private life and their decision to announce they are gay during the Summer Games in London.
Gay and his partner, Justin Rodhe, are doing the speaking for themselves, but for all intents and purposes, they are fighting for a place on the Olympic gold medal watch list. Gay insists Rodhe “didn’t require” them to file for a protection order and the fallout has resulted in the couple being forced to move after a shock flurry of phone calls and abusive emails from anonymous sources who apparently not only hate their fashion sense, but their attitude towards the Gay Community.
As recently as March of this year, this wasn’t a problem. People tolerated this from people who were children or grandchildren of famous citizens, winners of gold medals, such as legendary athletes and coaches, athletes, or who coached teams that won a national championship in their sport.
But in this Olympic year, when the star athletes and some members of the staff (and the people they depend on for support) are undoubtedly rooting for these athletes to compete and win a gold medal or three, when Justin Rodhe insists that those behind the attacks on him have no understanding of tolerance and acceptance, and when the transatlantic Olympic committee tends to make a big deal out of trying to appeal to ‘global values,’ this situation is becoming national as well as international.