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Wow I never knew this.
Ilia Malinin and sensitivity training
- Thread starter ElSoteroLoco
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I am pretty sure he did not invent it on the spot but it pre-existed in his head before. Whether he heard it / it was discussed around him or with him seriously or "jokingly", we'll never know. But, yes, the role of his environment in all this raises even more concerns.
To be honest, i thought he meant that he has TO LOOK gay to get higher PCS. Not that he has TO BE GAY to get higher PCS. Doing more "feminine" programs or looking more "feminine" (wrong choice of word but i didn't find a better suited one). He probably had some skaters in mind when he was saying that, and not skaters like Fernandez who was getting gigantic PCS by doing programs which denifitely weren't "feminine".
The good old fashioned stereotypes about men in this sport is more linked to what he said than real sexuality issues imo.
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Why Doesn't he look up to Alexei Yagudin? Yags is straight and married. He received, and deserved HUGE PCS over his career and especially at the Olympics. Ilia, you have so much talent, don't waste one more second of blaming anyone but, the Man In The Mirror for your PCS.......Get to work on addressing the issue in the rink. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g0Kx_NatPI
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Well, he definitely looked up to Yagudin in terms of homophobia...
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Yagudin openly salivates on Russian TV over Ignatov's height, good looks and sex symbol status and made Mozalev carry him in his arms. So... i dunno.
Your implication that all Russians are homophobes is way, way out of line.
As for Malinin, he will survive, learn and grow.
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Are you being for real right now... Yagudin is openly homophobic, very openly at that. No matter what you believe to know about his sexuality, his behaviour speaks a different language.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/06...dam-rippon-black-trans-lives-matter-olympics/
https://kittyprincessofcats.tumblr.com/post/189350864304/alexei-yagudin-also-known-as-human-garbage
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I think Yagudin is not an example of "definitely straight". However Nathan Chen has talked about being straight and it didn't hurt his PCS.
Basically Malinin is in a similar situation as Trusova at the Olympics. She didn't win "only" silver because she's straight and Shcherbakova is not. There are enough very recent examples to realize that his PCS are about skating technique and not about his sexuality.
And I assume there are more than 2 active male gay skaters on elite level, but only 2 have come out, which would also indicate that many still kind of hide being gay out of fear of repercussions.
Basically Malinin is in a similar situation as Trusova at the Olympics. She didn't win "only" silver because she's straight and Shcherbakova is not. There are enough very recent examples to realize that his PCS are about skating technique and not about his sexuality.
And I assume there are more than 2 active male gay skaters on elite level, but only 2 have come out, which would also indicate that many still kind of hide being gay out of fear of repercussions.
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Well, obviously not all Russians are homophobes, but Russian figure skating is openly gay- and transphobic, there are disgusting remarks made regularly by people in the spotlight.
The legal situation in that country definitely doesn't help.
The legal situation in that country definitely doesn't help.
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And the reason this thread keeps going on and on and rehashing the same thing is that some people won't let it go. Ilia didn't commit murder or kick a puppy - he made a stupid mistake, has apologized for it, and life will go on. I think some people need sensitivity training instead of having a kneejerk reaction for every little slight. This is not the end of the world folks......
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i can see how they might be taken offensively by someone like Jason Brown, who is openly gay, and has shown support towards Ilia and kindly given him advice. i'd imagine it feels a bit like a slap in the face.
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I am glad we established that not all Russians are homophobs. As for Russian skating community, it is also diverse, and while Yagudin spouts dirt over every man who laced skates and wasn't him, others don't. Grishin, who comments pretty much everything, unlike Yagudin, had never said anything untoward about any man's or woman's sexuality or gender role-ing in my hearing, and neither did Medvedeva or Tran'kov or Averbukh or Guerreiro. I don’t listen to Tarasova or Zagitova, so I can’t vouch about them.
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The reason this is raising emotions is likely because it's not just about the individual skater Ilia Malinin but about general aspects and the culture/environment in which such remarks happen. I agree, as long as there are no similar follow up remarks now and no other skater says he has a problem with it we can let it go - but I really dislike when people try to shut discussions up like that. As far as I've seen nobody has personally attacked Malinin for it here - most people are very understanding. So what's the problem with discussing whether we find it offensive or how to deal with it or what can be done in order to not have homophobia in this sport?
I can understand people are annoyed when this topic is getting discussed again and again, but it's just a fact that this is a topic in this sport which affects many on many levels - the gay skaters, the straight ones, the audience. In a sport where it's part of the sport to present a certain role and image it is also not really possible to say this is all private life that has nothing to do with the performance.
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Expressing an opinion on a figure skating board is what we do. 
From what I can see, most folks on this Board have been quite understanding. Saying that Ilia made a mistake in his IG comment and the "apology" was not much better is not bashing Ilia for life. It's saying he made a mistake and we hope he learns from it.
I really sincerely hope he learns. I think he can.
From what I can see, most folks on this Board have been quite understanding. Saying that Ilia made a mistake in his IG comment and the "apology" was not much better is not bashing Ilia for life. It's saying he made a mistake and we hope he learns from it.
I really sincerely hope he learns. I think he can.
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And also, his team's misguided idea that he is somehow underscored when it comes to PCS.
I don't think that's what he meant though. He specifically referenced 'saying' he wasn't straight as a way to get higher marks. Which is very stupid but again, makes me eyeball his team more than the silly teenager that spouted it.
Well, i hope he will see that you can be polished while "looking straight". The best response to this controversy would be working on his skating skills and carriage.
He totally deserves the PCS he gets. But his team and him saw others at the same age and same stage of their careers get better PCS with the same strategy. I can understand the disappointment.
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Homophobia in figure skating :
It's not new. It's ongoing. It's a larger battle than just Malinin. This is why a thread like this one has its relevance...
It's a "not again" kind of moment...
Here is a press release from the ISU dating from October 2021... and the link to the ISU Code of Ethics
It's not new. It's ongoing. It's a larger battle than just Malinin. This is why a thread like this one has its relevance...
It's a "not again" kind of moment...
Here is a press release from the ISU dating from October 2021... and the link to the ISU Code of Ethics
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