The 2018 Winter Olympics are kicking off in South Korea as this week draws to a close, with the Games providing, among other important items, an opportunity for a glimmer of hope for reconciliation between the North Koreans and their southern neighbors. North Korean representatives held a rare, highly publicized meeting with South Korean officials earlier this year during the preparation period.
That’s not all, though. In addition, the Games this year see a strikingly diverse U.S. Olympics team, including the first openly gay athlete to qualify for the U.S. Winter Olympics team and the icon of diversity to probably attract the most attention in the circumstances, figure skater Adam Rippon.
As wild as it is, Rippon’s presence on the U.S. team could always be expected to irk certain segments of the U.S., with the idea on the part of many Americans that LGBT people should be shunned and forced into the closet.
In a striking development in this regard, Fox News posted an opinion piece Friday from an “executive editor” that aired these disgusting viewpoints.
After the unsurprising backlash, the column has been removed from the Fox News website, but not before the world could see yet again just how despicable of a viewpoint the “news” outlet is willing to give credence to.
In the piece, Fox News executive editor John Moody sarcastically quipped:
‘Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’ If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.’
Is there something wrong with working to include all types of Americans on the U.S. Olympic team, something that’s supposed to represent America? The U.S. Olympic team is not a representative of whatever conservative Christian church someone like Moody could be expected to be found at. The team is a representative of the United States and — surprise surprise — there are LGBT people and African Americans among us, and no matter how many frustrated, angry, self-obsessed talking heads assert otherwise, neither LGBT people nor African Americans are less deserving of respect than other Americans.
To work to include all swaths of American society on the U.S. Olympic team isn’t a gimmick. It’s about making the team realistically represent the people of the United States. People like Moody simply live in a fairy tale anti-LGBT conservative Christian wonderland, so that concept is foreign to them.
Moody, of course, isn’t alone in his viewpoints, but others — like the notoriously anti-LGBT Vice President Mike Pence — have resorted to other means to reconcile themselves with efforts at inclusion at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Although Pence was reportedly rebuffed in his efforts to meet with Rippon after the latter criticized the vice president, he did eventually issue a public statement in support of the skater.
Check out Pence’s statement below.
Even though Pence issued this statement, the fact remains that the Trump administration has taken concrete steps against LGBT Americans in the past.
For instance, the president moved to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces last year.
Featured Image via Chung Sung-Jun/ Getty Images
