Department of English faculty member Dr. Jeffry Iovannone’s essay “Thank you, Adam Rippon, for Introducing Us to John Curry,” has been selected as a featured story by the editorial staff of the web publishing platform, Medium.
The essay was written for Dr. Iovannone’s blog, Queer History for the People, and historicizes the contemporary significance of openly gay Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon through the story of John Curry, a gay British figure skater whose sexuality was ignored by his sport and who died of AIDS in 1994. As part of the feature, Medium will also produce a professional audio version of the essay. The print version is free and publicly accessible, while the audio version is only available to Medium members.
“Rippon’s challenge to gender norms and his embodiment of personal empowerment and truth is wildly needed at this moment,” noted Iovannoane. “Oppressive leaders like Donald Trump and Mike Pence fear and detest LGBTQ rights because truth — and there is perhaps no truth more fundamental than asserting exactly who one is in a world that says they should not exist — destroys the uniform reality they wish to create.”
“John Curry was an icon forty years ahead of his time. Today, Adam Rippon is exactly the icon we need,” acclaimed Iovannone.
To read the full essay, visit online.
