By Alex Ripepi
Opinion Editor
The 2014 Winter Olympics have revealed how truly immature the world is in respect to issues concerning homophobia.
With the announcement of Russia as this games’ host, the controversy surrounding the safety of our gay athletes immediately took off.
The media addressed the problem rather appropriately at first, questioning the legitimacy of Russia’s anti-gay legislation, passed in June 2013, respective to the United States Olympic Committee ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation.
However, some media outlets began to handle the issue rather poorly after the initial bout of respectable concern.
Instead of genuinely discussing the implications of sending openly gay athletes to a possibly dangerous environment, two ads in particular have shifted the focus from the well being of our gay athletes to their sexuality in particular.
An ad by the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion depicts two male lugers in a rather sexualized version of a launch set to The Human Leagues’ “Don’t You Want Me Baby,” and as they finish their launch, the words “the games have always been a little gay” appear onscreen.
Turning a sport that has loosely homoerotic positions for about five seconds into a caricature of gay sexuality is hardly the proper way for anyone to showcase the pride they have for their team.
In another circumstance where the safety of our athletes and others wasn’t at risk, this ad would be less suspect, but as it stands now, this depiction of the sport is more damaging than anything.
Instead of highlighting the athletic achievement of gay athletes, they are singled out in an almost mocking way.
The other ad by XXL, a Norwegian company, highlights the bumbling antics of male athletes trying to impress a woman walking through an airport.
The men vie for her attention fervently until she reaches the runway and kisses a woman getting off of a plane (to the dismay of all of the men).
While the ad highlights the hilarious and misguided attempts of the flirtatious male athletes, the woman, who is the only obviously gay person in the ad is simply used for a sex appeal. Even so, the woman isn’t even implied to be an athlete.
This is not to say that we should bury the issue, but a simpler, more serious approach to the issue would be more than enough to get the point across that we as a country won’t stand for the mistreatment of Olympians regardless of race, gender, orientation or otherwise.
These depictions of gay people are not appropriate ways of expressing support in the current hotbed of risk that is Russia.
Although as a group of nations, the initial message is that our athletes, whether gay, straight or otherwise, are supported, the subsequent drift into satirization is essentially mocking the gay community.