After media questioned everything from his costumes to his gender during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, 25-year-old American figure skater Johnny Weir told reporters he's comfortable with who he is and knows his values.

"I'm not somebody to cry over something or to feel weak about something," he says. "I felt very defiant when I saw these comments. It wasn't these two men criticizing my skating . . . it was them criticizing me as a person. That was something that really frankly pissed me off."

Weir, who placed sixth overall at the Winter Games in Vancouver, is referring to comments made by Claude Mailhot and Alain Goldberg, sportscasters on the French-language TV station RDS in Quebec.
Discussing his figure skating costumes and body language, they said Weir set a bad example for other male skaters and joked that he should undergo gender testing.

The broadcasters later apologized for their words, after the Quebec Council of Gays and Lesbians filed a complaint with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council over the comments.
Weir says that those who judge him based simply on his skating costumes have no idea who he really is.

Though he says he's in favour of freedom of speech, he wanted to respond to the broadcasters' comments so other kids won't grow up to face similar issues. Attempting to turn an "ugly" situation into something beautiful, he hopes more kids can grow up like he has, with the freedom to express themselves.

"I think masculinity is what you believe it to be," he says. "I think masculinity and femininity is something that's very old fashioned. There's a whole new generation of people that aren't defined by their sex or their race or who they like to sleep with. I think as a person you know what your values are and what you believe in, and I think that's the most important thing."

As for the broadcasters who criticized him, Weir says they'd likely find common ground over a trademark Quebec dish.

"If I had the chance to sit down with them over a poutine . . . I think they'd see who I really am."

- Words by Chris Mejaski, Media Committee Journalist

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