The famous figure skater Ilia Malinin is in the news for his controversial remark. People are offended and have started a rumor about Ilia Malinin being gay, but is he?
Ilia Malinin is a famous American figure skater born on December 2, 2004.
He holds a record for the men’s short program, free skate, and combined score.
Meanwhile, Ilia is impressively the first and only figure skater to land a quadruple Axel, the most challenging jump in figure skating.
Not only that, he is also the first to do a fully rotated jump in an international competition.
However, Ilia recently got into a controversy, offending the LGBTQ community.
Is Ilia Malinin Gay? Controversial Comment Stirring a Backlash In The LGBTQ+ Community
The controversy began after one of his fans asked a question to Ilia on his Instagram Live.
The question was, “Ilia, do you need to prove you’re straight?”
To which he replied,
“Bro, you know, let’s be honest, I can’t be straight anymore because I need those (artistic) component scores up, you know. I gotta say that I’m not straight, that way my components are gonna go up.”
The response shocked any of his fans as they did not expect their favorite athlete to make such remarks.
The statement made it clear to his fans that Ilia Malinin is not gay but left a bad taste.
People found it offensive because the comment Ilia Malinin made disregarded the struggles of the gay community, especially in sports.
After this incident, strong reactions started to come from the LGBTQ community.
Not only the gay communities but many of his straight fans did not like what he said.
To which Ilia made a response by posting tweets containing his apologies. He made three back-to-back posts.
In one of those tweets, he says, “I hope that everyone understands I mean no hate to anyone. Thank you all for understanding this mistake and making it known to me that I made a mistake.”
This apology, however, did not meet its goal. People think this statement shows Ilia’s lack of accountability and self-awareness.
Similar Category: Is Sophia Bush Gay? Gender And Sexuality
Ilia Malinin’s Apology: Shedding Light On LGBTQ+ Sensitivity In Figure Skating
Ilia’s controversial remark did not only offend his fans but also the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
He also wrote a formal apology letter to the CEO, Tracy Marek.
In the letter, he wrote that he does not think that the scores given by judges in figure skating are influenced in any way by the sexual orientation of a player.
Ilia Malinin also adds that he had no reason to believe his not being gay has anything to do with his scoring.
The U.S. Figure Skating made a response in which they stated that Ilia needed to attend sensitivity training.
The sensitivity program will give him a better understanding of the LGBTQ+ community in sports and the community.
This controversy is an unfortunate reminder of the fact that there are still so many people who are unaware of the gay community.
Male figure skaters have been a subject of speculation for a long time regarding their sexuality.
It is because figure skating is often considered a very feminine sport.
Ilia Malinin could have been careful before answering the question about him being gay.
So, let’s hope that Ilia Malinin is more aware of the gay community now and won’t repeat the mistake.
Also Read: Is The Columnist James Kirchick Gay? Gender And Sexuality
