From: NewNowNext
For the past week, former figure skater turned TV personality Johnny Weir has been covering the 2016 Rio Games alongside gold medal-winning skater Tara Lipinski. Aside from offering colorful banter, Weir has also been serving television viewers some truly outlandish fashion.
Though Weir is well-known for his bold and unique style, not all back home have been receptive to his on-screen outfits. One stranger in particular sent a message to Weir, which read: “You give gay people a bad name!! You are a bad drag queen. And not pretty! You come off as a sad faggot! Shame on you!!!”
The former skater took the comment in stride, choosing to channel the negativity into a message of empowerment for the LGBTQ community by superimposing the hateful words onto an image of himself wearing a fierce pink coat.
“This message was sent to me today,” he captioned the photo. “I don’t feature being called a ’faggot.’ This has to stop. This jealousy and hatred from within my own community is stunting our growth.”
“I wear the clothes that I like and clothes that entertain, which is my job,” he continued. “At home, I am not this person. I can wear whatever I want because I can. If you aren’t interested in me, stop following me.”
He then addressed the user directly: “I work on television, fly around the world all year to different events. What do you do Gary? I gain strength from these messages. Be smart and stronger people. Nothing matters but you.”
Since sharing the image Saturday, Weir has received a flood of positive comments from fans around the world.
“You make me smile, you make me laugh not because of what you wear but because of your heart,” read one.
“Be yourself and ignore the haters. They are all boringly unoriginal….and crazy jealous,” shared another.
“Gay or straight you rock outfits that most wouldn’t wear out of fear of being too different,” one user reflected. “This is real balls! I love watching you on TV. You are a bad ass.”
Keep doing your thing Johnny!
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