The News Minute| July 12, 2014| 11.30 pm IST
Australian Swimmer and Olympian Ian Thorpe has finally revealed he is gay, after years of rejecting reports that suggested he was gay.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Thorpe made the admission in a tell-all interview with Sir Michael Parkinson. The interview, which will air on Sunday night on Channel Ten, has been described by Sir Michael as one he had wanted to do for a long time.
In his 2012 autobiography, This is Me, Thorpe confronted the speculation head-on: ''For the record, I am not gay and all my sexual experiences have been straight. I'm attracted to women, I love children and aspire to have a family one day … I know what it's like to grow up and be told what your sexuality is, then realising that it's not the full reality. I was accused of being gay before I knew who I was.''
The Daily Telegraph has lauded Ian Thorpe's decision. The paper says, "In 2014, it is still a momentous and deeply brave act to come out and declare the truth about one’s sexuality — especially when family sensitivities and commercial pressures are involved, as they doubtless are for Ian Thorpe. We congratulate Thorpe on his decision to speak out now, at a time of his choosing, about his own most private truth."
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