From: NewNowNext
The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio have been hailed as the most LGBT-friendly, boasting a record 49+ openly LGBT athletes and a host country that is, on the surface at least, tolerant and inclusive of its LGBT population.
But the heightened visibility is a double-edged sword, as the media’s casual homophobia has also been on full display in a series of gaffes that delegitimized the seriously historic moments for the competing LGBT athletes, five of whom have already taken medals.
Last Monday, Tom Daley’s fiance Dustin Lance Black was in the crowd as Tom took home his second Olympic bronze — a historic moment mainstream media ignored completely.
Days later, NBC Sports announcer Chris Marlowe referred to Brazilian beach volleyball player Larissa Franca’s wife as her husband, right as the camera zoomed in to catch their embrace after Franca won a gold medal.
The @NBCNews just called Larissa Franca's partner her "husband!" Pretty sure Liliane Maestrini goes by "WIFE!" Jerk! pic.twitter.com/gvO1oG5bIv— Sara (@SaraBrooks55_99) August 9, 2016
On Monday, BBC commentator Paul Hand came under fire for contributing to the mess, taking a swipe at tennis pro Andy Murray’s sexuality by describing his euphoric gold medal-winning cry as “not macho.” It was Hand’s second offensive comment of the Olympic season, after announcing live on-air that he wasn’t interested in seeing “two blokes” kissing.
The coverage continued on Wednesday, when a Daily Mail headline suggested British divers Chris Mears and Jack Laugher were “unmanly” for their animated embrace after winning gold. The backlash was so widespread that it caused the Mail to adjust the headline and publish a follow-up piece profiling their girlfriends, which addressed the rumor that “everybody thinks they’re gay.”
Today, outrage is directed back at the Daily Mail over their latest cover story, a lengthy profile on British cyclist Laura Trott and her fiance Jason Kenny, highlighted by a giant photo of the couple kissing that takes up a majority of the page.
Daily Mail clears up the issue of 'acceptable' Olympic celebrations pic.twitter.com/4bIClQmSuK— Alastair Jamieson (@alastairjam) August 17, 2016
Why didn’t Dustin Lance Black and Tom Daley, or Larissa Franca and her wife, Liliane Maestrini, get the same type of coverage?
Why didn’t mainstream media or NBC Sports cover British race-walker Tom Bosworth’s beach engagement to his fiance? Surely his marriage is just as important as Trott and Kenny’s — or, at least, that’s what our governments tell us.
But mainstream media doesn’t assert the fact that LGBT athletes are fully equal to their straight counterparts at the Olympics; They’re second-class citizens who are allowed to participate but, when it comes to their personal or love lives, are largely un-newsworthy.
Un-newsworthy, of course, unless they can be exploited for clicks and revenue. Such was the case for The Daily Beast when it published a dangerous piece by straight reporter Nico Hines, who used Grindr to bait closeted athletes in the Olympic Village for an article that more or less outed them.
The Daily Beast removed the article after editing, and then defending it, for two days. It was so egregious that the IOC stripped Hines of his credentials and effectively ended his coverage in Rio.
Highlighting the Beast’s ignorance to the potentially lethal consequences the article could have for some athletes from countries where homosexuality is illegal, Editor-in-Chief John Avlon and Executive Editor Noah Shachtman have refused to take responsibility for it, and Hines has yet to apologize.
However the tide seems to be changing, albeit slowly.
Though it refuses to admit its coverage of LGBT milestones this year has been flawed, NBC offered a make-good on its earlier refusal to recognize a same-sex couple on air by airing a three-minute profile on Larissa Franca and her wife, Liliane.
“To me she is the best athlete and spouse in the world,” Liliane says in the three-minute video, while the two flip through their wedding photo album. “She has a huge heart.”
It’s a great start, NBC. But you can do better.
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