“With great power comes great responsibility”

"Suck on that faggots, probs the best game I've ever seen!! Well done boys."

After much public abhorrence for her homophobic tweet on the micro blogging site, Twitter, I bet Stephanie Rice is kicking herself for not heeding Spider Man’s advice.
Rice, has been labelled a "complete idiot" following the “homophobic” comment she posted following the Wallabies' Tri-Nations rugby victory over South Africa recently.

Yet despite her repeated apologies, she has since been removed from all her sponsor work including her lucrative contract with automotive giant, Jaguar.

But let's explore the where the problem lies. The word "faggot" has changed a lot over the years. At its core, the meaning of the word was simply "to bind branches and sticks together." It wasn’t until the early 50’s that it was distorted into an offensive term for an openly homosexual man.

Today, in my opinion, to refer to someone as a faggot is an insult in its own right, I don’t find it homophobic because I believe that it is not necessarily intended to imply that someone is a homosexual and that they should take offence in being one.
Just from doing my own research through casual conversation, eight out of nine of my homosexual friends did not find her ”slur” offensive. What the eight did find somewhat irritating was that Ian Roberts, former NRL star and gay rights activist made such a mountain of a molehill of the ordeal.

Yes, a lesson was taught, do not insult minorities, but in greatly dramatizing that her comment was the greatest atrocity to all gays, the ripple effect was that it cast an unspoken and negative limelight on the gay community. That we must constantly side step and be cautious of ever offending a homosexual at risk of –in Rice’s case, losing her professional credibility. Even her homosexual friend, diver, Michael Mitcham stated that Rice was friends with many gays and did not intend to offend anyone.

Yes, Rice made a mistake in posting her patriotic woot on Twitter, but from my point of view, her intentions weren’t to offend the gays and lesbians of the world, it was to offend the people who betted against the Wallabies in saying they had absolutely no chance of winning against South Africa. It was simply projectile vomit in the excitement of the moment.

I'm not saying that what Stephanie Rice did was right, she is a public figure with obligations to act accordingly in the public eye. I believe that this was simply a knee jerk reaction that didn't necessarily had to risk her entire livelihood. After all, the triple-gold medalist, was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth games after suffering from a shoulder injury. The scandal served as a real double whammy for the young lass. She'd no sooner be stacking shelves for a living.

To me, this incident isn't necessarily about homophobia or minority activists. It purely for entertainment through mass hysteria. Would it have been less controversial if it didnt occur so close to the Australian Gay and Lesbian Pride Day?
Here we have two openly homosexual athletes, one of which PERSONALLY knows Rice and is publically defending her and another who simply caught Rice out on her slur and found it opportunistic to be vocal about his gay activist rights. Both had a right to do what they did, yet the tabloids choose to give Ian Roberts more of a say on the media. Why? Because people love the thrill of a scandal and scandals always sells.

I'm sure Rice has learnt a couple of lessons here,

1. The higher your star, the harder the public is eager to anticipate for you to fall.
2. THERE ARE NO BOOS BOOS ON TWITTER.