Gay Athlete Amini Fonua Slams Daily Beast Article Outing Olympians on Grindr
Amini Fonua, an openly gay athlete from Tonga, has spoken out against The Daily Beast’s article that outed gay Olympians using Grindr in Rio.
The 26-year-old swimmer said that he is strong enough to be out about his sexuality, despite his country making it illegal to be gay.
“It is still illegal to be gay in Tonga, and while I’m strong enough to be me in front of the world, not everybody else is. Respect that,” he wrote.
The article, written by Nico Hines, was heavily edited after the outlet received criticism for outing athletes and possibly endangering their lives. Eventually, the website took down the article altogether.
As an out gay athlete from a country that is still very homophobic, @thedailybeast ought to be ashamed #deplorable https://t.co/qzS9rDFJwx
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Click inside to read the rest of Amini Fonua’s tweets…
@NicoHines You fucking disgust me. Do you realize how many people's lives you just ruined without any good reason but clickbait journalism?
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines Some of these people you just outed are my FRIENDS. With family and lives that are forever going to be affected by this
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines Seriously fuck off with your str8 white male privilege preying on closeted people who can't live in their truth yet. U ruin us
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines must think it's really fucking funny that he can do this shit without any consequences and go home to his family & kids unscathed
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@thedailybeast & @NicoHines don't realize this drags us gays in sports back 10 steps. You invaded both privacy & people's truth. Fuck you!!!
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Imagine the one space you can feel safe, the one space you're able to be yourself, ruined by a straight person who thinks it's all a joke?
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@NicoHines & @thedailybeast 1 of the guys you just outed is only 18 years old… I was 18 once & nowhere near ready to come out, fuck you.
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
No straight person will ever know the pain of revealing your truth, to take that away is just… I can't. It literally brings me to tears 😭😭
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
It is still illegal to be gay in Tonga, and while I'm strong enough to be me in front of the world, not everybody else is. Respect that.
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Shame this inhumane CREEP who thought it'd be funny to endanger people's lives in the village 🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼 @NicoHines pic.twitter.com/5TTom3i9c6
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
@thedailybeast TAKE THE ARTICLE DOWN IMMEDIATELY. I don't care what changes have been made, take it down NOW.
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 11, 2016
Yo @nicohines & thedailybeast – if what you were looking for on Grindr was hot ass (and I don't… https://t.co/xPLFA0YD7i
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 12, 2016
Thank you for the amazing support! We were successful in defeating ignorance with truth & honesty; #strengthinnumbers #pride ❤️�’��’��’��’�
— Amini Fonua (@AminiFonua) August 12, 2016