Ian Thorpe Reveals Homophobic Abuse By Uber Driver

Ian Thorpe has revealed his horrific experience with an Uber driver who targeted the nine-time Olympic medallist and his then partner with homophobic abuse.

The retired swimmer spoke on Mornings with Neil Mitchell on 3AW about his experiences of bigotry which occurred before and after he had publicly come out.

Mitchell asked Thorpe whether he’d seen an increase in homophobia. Thorpe replied that he had seen the statistics of homophobia around the world and in Australia, before adding that he had experienced it “before I was out and I also experienced it when I’ve been out”. 

Homophobia

The Australian athlete denounced homophobia, stating that he didn’t feel as though it was “necessary”, and reflected on living in the 21st century where the question lies in “can we not respect what may be a little different” and “that we’re all actually human”.

Thorpe recalled instances of homophobia in the past, stating that when he was younger, he had been called “the f-word by people”. Another egregious attack of homophobia came when he was in an Uber. 

“I actually experienced [homophobia] in the back of a car. It was an Uber, I can say that, and it was with a person that was my partner at the time, and I was basically told that I was disgusting,” he said.

Thorpe reflected on the exchange with the Uber driver, stating that the driver used his name on the account with the company (which was not his first name). The athlete told Mitchell that the conversation with the Uber driver left Thorpe telling the driver to stop and pull the car over on the side of the street, with him getting out of the car thinking to himself, “Am I being hysterical about this?” 

“The driver should’ve been watching the road and the fact that I was holding someone else’s hand shouldn’t have mattered,” he said. 

His experience of homophobia occurred in “probably the most small-liberal area” in Australia, which was shocking for the athlete to endure. He told Mitchell that this experience meant that, “if it happens to me, it means it can happen to anyone else”. 

“I experience it [homophobia] and I take it on in the same way that anyone else does”, Thorpe said. 

Coming Out 

Thorpe came out as gay in July 2014 in an exclusive interview with Sir Michael Parkinson, following years of public denial around rumours circulating about his sexuality. 

“I’ve thought about this for a long time. I’m not straight,” said the 31-year-old. “And this is only something that very recently, we’re talking the past two weeks, I’ve been comfortable telling the closest people around me, exactly that. I’ve wanted to [come out] for some time but I couldn’t, I didn’t feel as though I could. What happened was I felt the lie had become so big that I didn’t want people to question my integrity,” Thorpe said at the time. 

Thorpe, who is known by his nickname “Thorpedo”, emphasised that he believed Australia had come a long way since the Marriage Equality Act in 2017, but there was “more to be done”.

The athlete introduced statistics about marriage equality in Australia, comparing the 34 per cent support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2004 with the vote a decade later where “that number had actually doubled”. 

Thorpe asserted that he was for “equality and fairness,” when asked about transgender discrimination in sport. 

“Around the world, in Australia also, trans people are amongst the most discriminated people in any country. It has been weaponised, especially we have seen it in the US, but we also saw that in Australia with trans people,” he added.