Rudy Galdo, The Openly Gay Figure Skater Who Ma History

Contents:

• A LOOK BACK AT LGBT SPORTS HISTORY: RUDY GALDO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR GAY FIGURE SKATERS
• A LOOK BACK AT LGBT SPORTS HISTORY: RUDY GALDO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR GAY FIGURE SKATERS
• A LOOK BACK AT RUDY GALDO, THE OPENLY GAY FIGURE SKATER WHO MA HISTORY
• MOMENT #94: OPENLY GAY RUDY GALDO WS U.S. FIGURE SKATG TLE
• ADAM RIPPON, JOHN CURRY AND FIGURE SKATG'S PLEX HISTORY WH GAY ATHLET
• 'GAYT SPORT AMERI'
• SO, THEY'RE ALL GAY, RIGHT?

A LOOK BACK AT LGBT SPORTS HISTORY: RUDY GALDO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR GAY FIGURE SKATERS

”Before wng the natnal champnship, Galdo had e out publicly as gay — a bold move at the time a sport that is still fairly nservative.

A LOOK BACK AT LGBT SPORTS HISTORY: RUDY GALDO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR GAY FIGURE SKATERS

“Some athlet don’t want to e out bee they don’t want to be known as ‘the gay football player, ’ or ‘the gay basketball player.

It seems hard to believe the wake of succs enjoyed by stars like Adam Rippon and Johnny Weir, but there was a time when gay figure skaters felt they uld only hope to earn a medal by reprsg their personali on the ice. That all changed thanks large part to Rudy Galdo, who paved the way for gay skaters to be who they are at the 1996 US Figure Skatg Champnships his hometown of San José.

A LOOK BACK AT RUDY GALDO, THE OPENLY GAY FIGURE SKATER WHO MA HISTORY

Before that momento petn, Galdo admted, “When I wasn’t placg well and was gettg standg ovatns, I was told was bee I was flamboyant and openly gay.

Figure Skatg Required Element lled “systemic homophobia. All month long, Outsports is revisg key moments gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and queer sports history as part of LGBTQ history month.

MOMENT #94: OPENLY GAY RUDY GALDO WS U.S. FIGURE SKATG TLE

As we discs Adam Rippon, an openly gay ice skater currently reprentg Team USA, we n’t fet the achievements of Figure Skatg Hall of Famer Rudy Galdo.

He is the first openly gay Natnal Figure Skatg Champn. Beg celebrated as a gay figure skater is somewhat of a new phenomenon. A few months before wng the 1996 Natnal Champnship, Rudy me out as gay.

ADAM RIPPON, JOHN CURRY AND FIGURE SKATG'S PLEX HISTORY WH GAY ATHLET

Part of Outsports’ seri on our 100 most important moments gay sports history. Galdo was himself openly gay (rare sports, even figure skatg) and he poured all his efforts to the January 1996 U.

“When I wasn’t placg well and was gettg standg ovatns, I was told was bee I was flamboyant and openly gay, ” Galdo relled.

'GAYT SPORT AMERI'

But Galdo's biggt legacy will be his no-apologi statement as an openly gay ele athlete. No openly gay male athlete had ever reached a Wter Olympic podium before. Bee, for a sport that revolv around dividualy and exprsivens, figure skatg has a rather plex history wh gay was 42 years ago and the immediate aftermath of wng gold Innsbck that Bra’s John Curry faced down a roomful of the world’s media and field qutns about his “very personal liftyle” petg, he had given an terview to Amerin journalist John Vocur of the Associated Prs.

It was an open nversatn and Curry spoke about beg gay. Some newspapers, perhaps worried about what their rears would thk, tried hard to avoid g words like “gay” or “homosexual” at all.

He was emed a “hnted hero” and if there were other gay figure skaters on the circu, none followed his lead and went public.

SO, THEY'RE ALL GAY, RIGHT?

Even to the mid-1990s, high-profile male skaters who were emed ‘different’ were still warned agast phg the boundariRudy Galdo, a gay Mexin-Amerin, was a champn pairs skater and won back-to-back US tl wh his partner, Kristi Yamaguchi.