# Why do competitive male figure skaters look so gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833 "2009-11-08T19:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/41 "2009-11-09T22:29:34Z")
> [@Starring\_Emma](#): > > Straight men don’t figure skate! Straight men chop down trees,’ and have buttered SCONES for tea.. and they’re ok… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/42 "2009-11-09T22:40:31Z")
> [@astro](#): > > NTTAWWT etc. blah blah, but seriously. I’m sitting here eating lentil soup and watching NBS Sports and these guys are just done up in this almost androgynous fashion, and they are all (for the lack of better term) gorgeous boys with haircuts that look like they came out a gay nightclub. There are a few plain ones, but the majority are all model handsome and glammed up in the poofiest fashion imaginable. > > Why? Straight chick checking just to point out that being “gorgeous boys” who are “model handsome” and “androgynous” does not hurt your chances with the ladies. At All. Neither does the spandex. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/43 "2009-11-09T23:17:59Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Married to a woman, with two kids. Not mutually exclusive. I’m not trying to imply anything out Scott Hamilton either. > [@Starring\_Emma](#): > > Are you a Liberal? > > …global warming isn’t real > > …Michael Moore lies > > …polar bears are over populated and would make great hamburger meat > > …not allowing someone to date until age 16 is communism > > …Obama is the new Jimmy Carter I don’t self identify with any labels, I’m mostly hear for the yuks. I’ve eaten bear, not that great. ---
**Author:** ![Starring\_Emma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Starring\_Emma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starring_Emma)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/44 "2009-11-09T23:32:05Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > and have buttered SCONES for tea.. > > and they’re ok… > > 😃 ??? you know about my SCONES dilemma? google is a stalker tool ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/45 "2009-11-10T00:29:44Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Not mutually exclusive. I’m not trying to imply anything out Scott Hamilton either. He got married in 2002 when presumably he knew what he was all about. Of course they belong to a Christian church so maybe he is denying himself. Who knows. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/46 "2009-11-11T10:25:18Z")
In the 90s, somebody told me that male figure skaters had an EXTREMELY disproportionately high number of cases of AIDS/HIV of all of the Olympic events-something like through-the-roof high. Don’t have cite, don’t care for one, since I’m reporting on a ‘somebody told me’ thing. hh ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/47 "2009-11-11T11:27:59Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Are you saying you learned how to pick up girls? Yes, by the crotch. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/48 "2009-11-11T14:31:40Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Yes, by the crotch. 😃 “Put my hands WHERE??” /The Cutting Edge ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/49 "2009-11-11T16:46:58Z")
I’ve met Scott Hamilton and totally do not get a gay vibe from him, on or off the ice. Nice guy, too. ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/50 "2009-11-12T22:05:15Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Here’s a better question: Why do supposedly intelligent people make assumptions about a person’s sexuality based on appearance and choice of profession/hobby? It was noted by two in the bidness that the numbers skewed that way, though, no? /devilsadvocate ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/51 "2009-11-13T16:55:03Z")
Scott Hamilton has always been assumed to be one of the straights in the business. His growth was stunted by a childhood medical condition, and he said he took up skating as a form of exercise and sport to build himself up, one he could participate in without being at a huge size disadvantage. His skating style is characterized by athleticism and grace rather than flamboyance, and he has no obvious gay mannerisms. He married only in 2002, but he has had other LTRs with women, living with a previous fiance in the '90s. I haven’t followed the sport in about ten years or so, but throughout the '70s through the '90s, it seemed more noteworthy if a male skater (or commentator) wasn’t gay than if he was. Rudy Galindo has any number of reasons to lie about the number of gay skaters: 1) it’s nobody’s business, 2) it’s better for the public’s perception of the sport, 3) judges are reportedly perceived as anti-gay, 4) after AIDS killed or forced the retirement of several high-profile skaters, many others were determined to not come out to avoid discrimination and international-travel difficulties. There’s a ton of info online about it. From 1993: [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20109657,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20109657,00.html) > [@](#): > > The Calgary Herald, in an investigation late last year, found that al least 10 top male skaters and coaches from the U.S. and Canada have died from AIDS in recent years… > Scott Hamilton, 34, gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics, understands the reluctance to make an issue of the disease. “More people need to talk about AIDS,” says Hamilton, who lives with his fiancée. Karen Plage, in Denver. “But we don’t want to cause unnecessary alarm. If AIDS is attached to skating, parents might not want to allow their kids to get involved in the sport.” > … > As skaters, coaches and officials privately mourn the deaths of their friends, they remain confused and fearful about dealing publicly with AIDS and with the issue of homosexuality in skating. Skaters, who for years have privately acknowledged a significant number of gay males in their midst, are reluctant to discuss the subject… ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833/52 "2009-11-13T17:50:45Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > perpetual boner _Band name!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-competitive-male-figure-skaters-look-so-gay/516833.md?page=2)