The petition garnered 41,000 signatures that petition creator Julie Sondgerath presented to General Mills.
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The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation pointed out that Louganis, who came out as HIV-positive in 1995, is being featured almost two decades since the United States first began seeing a decrease in the number of new HIV infections.
Mike Siemienas, General Mills’ manager of brand media relations, says the company “look[s] at a wide array of what [athletes] accomplished on the field of play and what they do in their communities”.
Louganis says he’s glad to finally be getting the recognition. The outpouring support for Louganis immediately followed the HBO documentary, Back on Board: Greg Louganis, which highlighted his athletic accomplishments and his overlooked status.
Louganis, who didn’t publicly reveal he was gay until the 1994 Gay Games in NY, believes rumors of his homosexuality kept him from being featured on the cereal box after the 1984 or 1988 Summer Olympics in which he won gold each year in the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform. Edwin’s always been a hero to me.
“I watched Janet grow up at Mission Viejo”, he added. In the documentary, Louganis commented that he was never chosen to be on a Wheaties box in the 1980s despite the fact that he was one most successful American Olympians of the era.
But Louganis seems to be of the opinion of “better late than never” and said he has no hard feelings over the past snub.
“But Johnny and I are married”, Louganis said of Johnny Chaillot, whom he Wednesday in 2013.
Though the honor is somewhat belated, Louganis told The New York Times that covering the iconic cereal box now means that fans get to see him as who he is.
General Mills made headlines past year after Bruce Jenner, one of the most memorable Wheaties icons, transitioned and made her debut as Caitlyn Jenner.
The whole “commercialism” of the Olympics was just starting to take shape during my career: 1972 with Mark Spitz, then 1976 with [Caitlyn] then Bruce Jenner. “But appearing on a Wheaties box is not a popularity contest”.
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‘But, the main reason to see Greg Louganis on a box of Wheaties is that he is undeniably the greatest diver of all time’.
