A lighthearted video produced by the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion which shows two men getting into position for a doubles luge in slow-motion while the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” plays in the background has generated the ire of some of the league’s top players. “The games have always been a little gay. Let’s fight to keep it that way,” the ad says.
But some players have found little humor in the ad. “They’re making fun of our sport for their cause and it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me,” Christian Niccum, an American Olympian, told the New York Times. “If I were to go hug my dad and someone took a picture and showed it in really slow motion, they could use it in a video like that and that’s just ridiculous. It’s my dad. Can’t we show affection to each other without it being some sort of sexual contact? This is sports. It’s the same thing. Why does it have to be like that?”
American luger Matthew Mortensen appeared tired of the joke’s staleness. “For some reason,” Mortensen said, “whether it’s Jimmy Kimmel or Conan O’Brien or anyone, doubles luge is always the target. It’s never about football players taking a snap or whatever. We’ve heard all this stuff before.”
But American luger Preston Griffall, who will compete in the doubles competition, which begins Wednesday night, took the ad in his stride, noting ironically that, “We’re two dudes, laying on top of each other in spandex,” Griffall said. “Of course people are going to make fun of it.”
For their part, the CIDI says the ad is meant to highlight their concerns over Russia’s gay “propaganda” ban. “The discrimination in Russia is unacceptable,” Michael Bach, the founder and chief executive of CIDI, wrote on the organization’s Web site. “As an organization, we want to show our support, especially for the athletes competing at the Olympics in Sochi.”
The video, which is featured here, has already generated almost 5 million views.
