Ian Thorpe has always been as queer as a three dollar note and tons of people knew, I heard about him circa 2005 from a hairdresser/stylist friend of mine, his "coming out" is just a publicity stunt.
C'mon, we don't talk about Allan Jones, Ian Meldrum or Peter Hitchener as "Gay" do we? We didn't talk about Graham Kennedy, John Michael Howson or Bernard King that way because we respected the fact that they kept their private lives private.
Celebrities only "come out" if they're going to get something from it and unfortunately not everyone stands to gain from the exposure, it's a horrible thing to say but don't be surprised if Ian Thorpe attempts or goes through with suicide in the not too distant future due to the pressure of "coming out".
Before any of the LGBTI bigots point out that that paragraph is exactly the reason people don't come out, consider that it would never have been written at all if he'd kept his private life private.

You are a disgrace saying such a thing about suicide JoM, and you have not one iota of care for Thorpe's well being in all your homophobic body.
You should feel ashamed of yourself...

Jay of Melbourne, since when was Alan Jones gay? Who told you that?

Lester1 wrote;

"Jay of Melbourne, since when was Alan Jones gay? Who told you that?"

This is going to be delicious.

Suse,
So facts are now homophobic?
Men are 79% of suicides.
Homosexual men are most likely to attempt suicide between the ages of 22 and 59 and they attempt suicide at three times the rate of other men.
(D'Augelli,Grossman,Hershberger & O'Connell 2001)
There's also a strong co-relation between suicidal ideation in homosexuals and their "coming out" to the world (Hughes 2003), (Paul et al 2002)
Don't be surprised if he does go downhill Suse, Ian Thorpe is quickly going to realise that all the people supporting him today won't be thinking about him at all tomorrow, he's a Twitter trend, nothing more. He's washed up as an athlete, he has described his suffering of the mental problems common to homosexuals and on top of everything else he's now written himself off as "Gay" so his world and his future prospects have just shrunk to a fraction, a sliver of what they might have been if he'd stayed silent.
I didn't make the world, I just report my observations.
Ian Thorpe, you've made a big mistake.

Alan Jones?
LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj3jrpQzCe0

Or if you prefer the view from the left:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2006/10/23/unmasking-alan-joness-hidden-homosexuality/