Olympian Johnny Weir on Tuesday
apologized for calling gay rights activists “idiots.”
“I realize that there is no excuse to
hurl insults at those who oppose you, or those who think differently
than you and as a believer in free will and free speech, I allowed my
own fear and emotion to get the better of me and for a moment I
became a hypocrite,” Weir said in his Falls Church News-Press
column Johnny's
World.
Weir's apology came a day after the
retired figure skater verbally attacked a group of LGBT activists
protesting outside a forum held at Columbia University and organized
by Barnard College. Weir referred to the demonstrators as “idiots
like the ones outside tonight, dumping vodka in the street” during
the event's Q&A session.
The group Queer Nation picketed Weir's
appearance with a banner which read “WEIR: RUSSIAN OLYMPIC CLOWN;
NBC: NAIVE BLOODY COLLABORATORS.”
“We're angry at him for not telling
the truth about what's going on in Russia to LGBT Russians and
everybody else who dissents, who are being brutalized,” Ann
Northrop of Queer Nation told Gay
City News. “He is selling out millions of people to
satisfy his desire not to forgo his income or status. Is this what
he would have done in Germany in 1936?”
Weir, who will be joining NBC for its
coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, has been slow to criticize
a Russian law which prohibits “gay propaganda” to minors. The
openly gay Weir has previously said that “the Olympics are not the
place to make a political statement.”
During an appearance on ESPN's
Olbermann, Weir wore a Russian military uniform as he
reiterated his opposition to a proposed boycott of the Olympics over
the law.
“Before a gay man, before a white
man, I am an Olympian and that's what I worked for from age 12. And
a boycott would negate all of that,” he
said during his appearance.
“I have been defending athlete's
rights to compete in Sochi, despite Russia's anti-LGBT laws, and have
publicly opposed a boycott,” Weir wrote on Tuesday. “This is an
issue that is very heated for many LGBT activists who want to protect
and save the Russian LGBT community, and I whole-heartedly applaud
their bravery. I may not agree with all their tactics nor do I have
the sense of responsibility that they have, but any selfless act is
worth applause.”
“Despite many activists bravery, they
also have a very pointed way of trying to make everyone around them
an activist and to stand for a cause. My stance of being pro-athlete
before being pro-gay has ruffled so many feathers and it becomes
difficult to speak publicly because of this fight.”
“In any event, the speech finished, I
left feeling awful and my only solace was in a half eaten carton of
Breyers, freezer burned to death in the back of my freezer. I have
put my foot in my mouth before, and I probably will many times over,
but it doesn't change the fact that I stooped to fighting by slinging
insults rather than being proud of my own voice and achievements and
saying, my opinion matters too.”
NBC said in a written statement that it
supports Weir: “We're supportive of Johnny's apology for his choice
of words last night in an emotional setting. As we've previously
stated, NBC will cover all newsworthy issues as they are relevant to
the Games, including the LGBT law.”