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LGBT Activists Call Johnny Weir "Olympic Clown" For Covering Sochi Games For NBC

Protest_weir

Photo: versha sharma

An LGBT activist group protested an appearance at New York's Barnard College by  former Olympic skater Johnny Weir, who has signed on to be a correspondent with NBC during the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Members of Queer Nation stood outside the school with a banner (above) branding Weir as a "Olympic Clown" and decrying the network as "bloody collaborators."

Weir, 29, also faced hostility at his talk, entitled "The Sochi Olympics and the Role of Athletes": "At the end of my speech I opened the floor to a Q&A and it turned out that those very people protesting my speech, were actually friends of the faculty and brave LGBT activists who stood in the same room as me," Weir wrote in a column in today's Falls Church News-Press.

He admitted calling the protesters "idiots" in the heat of the moment, but says "I felt, and still feel, a great deal of remorse for allowing myself to insult other people, fighting in their own way, and for using insulting words instead of my usual cheerleading antics for one and all."

Though he apologized for letting "my tongue [get] away from me," the flamboyant figure skater also stood his ground:

 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.

As a non-confrontational person, I take it very hard (obviously) when I offend people or they feel the need to tell me that I am awful. Many activists also believe that change starts with a revolution, a term that terrifies me. I am not against activism in any way, but I don’t have the strength of character to not only revolutionize my life on a daily basis but also the lives of others. Our differences are vast, but we all live for a purpose.

Do you think Weir should be boycotting the Games? Or is he supporting the athletes by going? Make the call in the comments section below

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