Thursday, 15 August 2013

Yelena Isinbayeva, The IAAF and The Tolerance of Intolerance.

A STATEMENT FROM JODY AND BAYO REGARDING YELENA ISINBEYEVA AND THE IAAF RESPONSE:

Yelena Isinbayeva, The IAAF and The Tolerance of Intolerance:

I don't write often. I'm too lazy. I've often told I'm good at it, but the most I can usually manage is a snarky post on an internet forum or a badly punctuated 140 character tweet. I really can't be bothered to actually formulate a coherent argument and there is little that I care enough about to try and convert others to my way of thinking. The only subject in years that I have written more than 200 words about is the various permutations of the UK women's 4x4 team.

I also don't do angry. Ok so me and my brother my bicker continuously but I very rarely actually get angry. I can count the times I've lost my temper in the last 5 years on one hand. I know exactly where and when this happened. In my mind there is little point. Seldom is anything ever solved by shouting and 9 times out of 10 I don't care enough about the person who has crossed me to waste my energy (And lose my dignity) by castigating them.

Tonight I'm going to write. I'm going to write because I'm angry. No, I'm furious. I'm also confused and strangely emotional.

A few hours ago I stood in the Luhzniki Stadium in Moscow, whilst the Russian national anthem played and I wildly applauded, with a big grin on my face, the fabulous Yelena Isinbayeva. There she was on the big screen receiving her Gold medal in front of her home crowd. 'What a legend' I thought. 'What a great ambassador for our sport. What a way to go out'. I even tweeted about how lovely she was looking. 30 seconds later my brother and I sat mouths agape as we read the disgusting homophobic comment that she's made earlier in the day. I can't ever remember having my illusions shattered so comprehensively or so quickly.

For those you that are unaware of what she said here's the link...........

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/yelena-isinbayeva-homosexuality-comments-1039347-Aug2013/?utm_source=shortlink

Basically Swedish athletes Emma Green - Tregaro and Moa Hjelmer made a subtle and classy show of support for their gay friends and colleagues and in return Isinbayeva went on that astonishing rant.

I'd interviewed her a couple of days before. She was lovely. Chatty and friendly and happy to talk to us despite already having done interviews for an hour or so. It was great we got a bit of a scoop and the video has already has over 3000 views. If only I'd known. If only SHE'D known.
 

I'm not sure you're aware but I'm one of them you see. A gay. A homosexualist. A 'problem'!!!

Would she have been so lovely had she known this? Would I have wanted to interview her had I known she was a world class bigot?

She is of course perfectly entitled to her opinion. As I'm not a politician I'm not getting into the politics of the whole thing. What I am is an athletics fan. No, I'm what's called a 'Stan'. An obsessive. My life revolves around Track and Field. The first thing I do of a morning is open up the Track & Field News/Athletics Weekly forums and they stay minimised on my computer all day at work. I've never had a job that didn't mean I could take 2 weeks of in the summer to watch and I've travelled the world, spending tens of thousands of pounds in the process, following my favourite sport as far afield and South Korea and Australia. Jody and I have been dubbed 'The Worlds Most Famous Athletics Fans' (Not a lot of competition I know). In recent times we've been lucky enough to be considered 'IAAF Family' and invited to amazing events that have made us happier than anyone can possibly have realised.

And this is where my major problem lies. In the response to her disgusting comments my 'family' released this cowardly statement............

“The IAAF constitution underlines our commitment to principle of nondiscrimination in terms of religious, political or sexual orientation,” IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told The Associated Press.

“Allied to this is our belief in free expression as a basic human right, which means we must respect the opinions of both Green Tregaro and Isinbayeva.”

To me this is more troubling that that pole vault women's original comments. No Nick we don' have to "respect the opinions of both Green Tregaro and Isinbayeva". To even equate the 2 is repugnant. If she had suggested black people were not 'normal or standard' would such a bland mealy mouthed response have been issued? If she had opined about Jewish or Muslim people "We never had these problems in Russia, and we don’t want to have any in the future." would Lamine Diack, Irena Szewinska or Nawal el Moutawakel be happy for it all to be brushed under the carpet?

You Don't Tolerate Intolerance.

There are no grey areas on the issue. It doesn't call for a reasoned weighing up of arguments or trying to see both sides of the issue.

You Don't Tolerate Intolerance. PERIOD!!!

What this basically tells me and Jody is that we're not wanted here. We're not welcome. But to be honest we're not the issue. Much more importantly what message does this give to the gay athletes competing at these championships? (And there are really plenty of them even if they haven't all made it public). One of the most admired ambassadors in our sport can make such ugly remarks and the response from those that are essentially her bosses, is to wash their hands of the whole matter. To shrug their shoulders and bury their head in the sand. Leaving the moral stand to be taken by brave athletes risking like the aforementioned Swedes and the 800m Silver medallist Nick Symmonds, who are risking the possibility of being arrested.

What I love most about our sport is that it's 100% inclusive. There is something for everyone no matter your sex, ethnicity or size. Kids across the globe can find someone that they can identify with be they a 4'10 Ethiopian distance runner or a 6'10 Eastern European thrower. Unless it seems, you're gay in which case the message being sent is shut up, keep quiet, Don't Ask Don't Tell. It's a wholly unacceptable stance from such a supposedly inclusive sport.

To a certain extent I blame myself. I feel a bit ashamed. I had major reservations about coming in the first place. Friends were really worried and I've been sent multiple messages since I came along the lines of 'Be careful' and 'Stay safe'. I kind of laughed them off. I was told stories of black friends being subjected to monkey noises in the streets and you only have to read the papers to hear of homophobic attacks but I didn't for one minute think that Russia as full of raging homophobes and racists. And so it proved, or so I thought. Everyone has been lovely. I've seldom been to a country where everyone was so welcoming. Rather than refuse us service in restaurants (As I'd been warned) people have been stopping us in the street to have their photo taken and complimenting us on our style.

But this all changed for me last night. Much as I've loved these championships so far I took little interest in Britain's misfortunes or the great 400h & HJ competition. I sat in the stadium feeling sick to my stomach. All I could think was what would that lovely waitress that we gave a big tip to think if she knew? Would those girls who were so excited to get a photo really feel differently? Am I surrounded by 40,000 people who hate me?

As a gay, black man it may surprise to hear that I have never experienced discrimination. I live in my own naïve little, liberal, artsy, Guardian reading London bubble where everyone gets along and no one cares if you black/white/old/young/gay/straight etc. If someone aimed discriminatory remarks at me they'd be laughed at. I simply don't have to deal with it. Tonight has opened my eyes. There is a whole wide world out there that we all need to be aware of it.

I may feel differently tomorrow but for now I actually want to go home. The whole championships has been soured and I don't want to be here anymore. I wish I'd never come. For me to say that about an athletics competition is incomprehensible, but I suppose I've learnt that I love myself more than I love this sport.

So well done Yelena. Well done IAAF. It may just be that 'The World's Most Famous Athletics Fan' is a fan no more (x2).

13 comments:

  1. Well said, folks. I'm stewing about this too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There's a line between "free expression" and shouting fire in a crowded theater. Isnbayeva went over that line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't see how it is in anyway similar to shouting fire in a theater.
      She expressed her personal opinion to the extent made possible by her somewhat rudimentary English (which didn't render her message any more subtle).
      She voiced an opinion shared by the majority of Russians (according to recent polls).
      She noted that there is a law that makes certain actions illegal. And she asked visitors to respect customs and laws of the host country. When in Rome... What's wrong with that?
      In my (unsolicited) opinion, her statement is far less bigoted or hateful than the plethora of denigrating comments posted in reaction to her interview (such as "disgusting Russian woman" "pole dancer" and "another uneducated automaton from a backward pariah nation" ...

      Delete
    2. To the person defending her right to free speech. Yes, she can say and think what she wants, but I do think you are trivilising what she said. As the original poster said, she talks about 'normal people' vs gay people. She calls gays a 'problem'. And she says 'we don't have this problem in Russia'. I could spend hours disecting these statements, but the easiest is indeed to exchange 'gay' for 'blacks', 'Jews' or Muslims'. Still just an opinion or is it hate speech? How would you feel as a gay teen in Russia hearing your national idea say that you don't exist, that you are a problem and that you are not normal? Would you hate yourself? Would you feel that you would never be accepted? Would you feel like the verbal and physical abuse you may receive was deserved for not being normal?

      I don't think we can underline enough how dangerous her remarks are, how damaging they are, and how outrageous it is that the IAAF think that Green Tregaro and Isinbayeva's actions are in any way comparable.

      Delete
  3. Totally agree.

    And, as you called yourself a gay and a black man, I want you to know that when I clicked on your blog here, all I saw was a man.

    --from a straight, white dude.



    Take that as a counter to her hate, some of us just see standard people, people-people, you know, like you, or anyone.

    These haters will never win. They can never win. Things are ever changing, and will change for the better until the haters are marginalized.

    My niece was a bigot when she moved from the USA to Scotland, and then London.

    Amazing, ten years later, and the bigotry is gone. People change when they no longer see intolerance around them. She got in a new world, and no one around her believed in her old ways, and they went away and she, of course, got re-educated by the wiser more tolerant world she found around her.

    That is slowly happening, and quickening, in much of the world.

    And of course that is exactly why the IAAF's support of an intolerant comment as free speech dead wrong.

    Many of us should email them and complain about their insulting and low minded public response.

    Best to you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Perfect writing ! Even I am no gay what has happened is just crazy. But please : Stay in Moscow ! Don't let these stupid people stop you being a fan of the greatest sport. If you leave now : they win and we do not want that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am not gay and i am also a big big fan of track and field and I completely agree with you. What the IAAF says is incredible, more incredible than that from Isinbajeva.
    Human rights seem to count nothing. THe whole IAAF seems a a group of men full of tokenism. If they have a Little bit of character they all should excuse for this stupid ignorant Statement and give up their Job in the Iaaf. It is really a shame that such men are on the top of track and field.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Basically, I too have lost all respect for Isinbayeva. Regarding the IAAF comment, though, one has to remember that IAAF representsmore than 200 nations with widely different cultures, politically and socially, so their statement is nothing but what one could exspect. In an ideal World, the IAAF would have taken the right stand, but this World isn't ideal. Well, let's make it one!
    Kind regards, Sorensen, Denmark.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great article Jody and Bayo and very well spoken. The best I can say to that ignorant ' champion ' of the pole vault is that there is an old saying, ' You have to be sparing when your raring ' . In other words when you are raising children you have to be forgiving to others as you never know how your children may turn out, good or bad. As someone who has stated that she now wants to start a family she had better hope that her words don't come back to haunt her as has happened time and time again with people with such ignorant views such as racism, homophobia, sexism etc.What you put out there you get back, its the law of the Universe and it may not be you or your children but it could be your children's children, what do you do then, turn your back on your own blood ? I sincerely hope that the love for another human being would convince you that your views are wrong, totally wrong ! Open your eyes and your mind Isabayeva and please think before you open your mouth with such ease again when speaking about other human beings with such disrespect and hate, you are no better than any other person on Earth you just happen to be a better pole vaulter than most of us !! ( and please IAAF have some backbone and don't let this kind of hatred be perpetrated so readily and easily, bad things happen when good men do nothing !' )

    ReplyDelete
  8. IAAF spokesman Nick Davies says that IAAF rules don't allow athletes to make any religous or political statements during competition. Funny thing is that Aregawi, the Ethiopian-turned-Swedish 1500 m World Champion, wore a neckless with a cross as a symbol of her Christian faith - and nobody has questioned that!
    Regards, Sorensen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why would wearing a cross be a problem? It's not a statement. It's a custom or tradition. Disseminating Bibles to the spectators, on the other hand, or replacing the national anthem with a Christian hymn for the medal ceremony would be.
      Not to mention Ethiopia is one off the first, if not the first, country to accept Christianity...

      Delete
  9. If "what you put out there you get back" is indeed the law of the Universe, I hope there is a big-ass karma tornado brewing somewhere out there, waiting to get back at the thousands of petty haters, trolls and cyberbullies that attacked Yelena's Facebook page in a piranha-like frenzy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello. We're promoting from Spain a petition to withdraw from Yelena Isinbayeva one of the most important prizes from our country: "Príncipe de Asturias". Our petition is writen in several languages. Please, help us and share it.
    Thank you!

    http://www.change.org/es/peticiones/withdraw-prince-of-asturias-award-from-isinbayeva

    https://www.change.org/es/peticiones/retirada-del-premio-pr%C3%ADncipe-de-asturias-a-yelena-isinbayeva?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=31499&alert_id=bdsPrYpyxt_wKbrZlySWO

    ReplyDelete