Some American lugers say they are annoyed with an ad by a Canadian non-profit that portrays their sport as gay, The New York Times reports.
In the ad, produced by the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion, a homoerotic depiction of two lugers preparing for a run is followed by the words “The games have always been a little gay. Let’s fight to keep them that way.”
“For some reason, whether it’s Jimmy Kimmel or Conan O’Brien or anyone, doubles luge is always the target,” American luger Matthew Mortensen said. “It’s never about football players taking a snap or whatever. We’ve heard all this stuff before.”
“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,” said another American, Christian Niccum. “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?”
Another American luger, Preston Griffall, was more sanguine about the ad.
“We’re two dudes, laying on top of each other in spandex,” he said. “Of course people are going to make fun of it.”
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