Skier G Kenworthy stoked by beg 1st openly gay male U.S. Wter Olympian - Outsports

kenworthy gay athlete

G Kenworthy is the first openly gay male to pete at the Wter Olympics, and he's ready to embrace that role.

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G KENWORTHY, OLYMPIC MEDALIST, SAYS HE’S GAY

Kenworthy, a etyle skier, me out as gay, sayg that hidg his sexualy durg the 2014 Wter Olympics had soured his silver medal w. * kenworthy gay athlete *

23, 2015The etyle skier G Kenworthy me out as gay, sayg that hidg his sexualy durg the 2014 Wter Olympics had soured his silver medal w. He was part of an Amerin sweep of medals at the Sochi Gam, which were dogged by protts om gay rights activists over Rsian laws banng so-lled gay propaganda.

GAY ATHLETE G KENWORTHY AND BUTTS GALORE HIGHLIGHT ESPN BODY ISSUE

At PyeongChang Olympics, one of two openly gay men on Team USA says beg closet ‘tak a toll on you.’ * kenworthy gay athlete *

A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn B, Page 12 of the New York edn wh the headle: Olympian Says He Is Gay. ESPN the Magaze’s Body Issue has bee a publishg re of summer and this year 23 male and female athlet are featured, cludg openly gay Olympic skier G Kenworthy and ver athlet Carole Wozniacki (tennis) and Ezekiel Elltt (NFL). THE Bachelor's Colton Unrwood looked happy and relaxed as he was spotted on a stroll New York Cy wh Olympic skier G Kenworthy shortly before he revealed he is gay.

Their outg amid mors The Bachelor star will be starrg a Netflix documentary focg on his life as a gay man. He relled a particular experience high school that he battled wh throughout his life, which he was "super secure" and "thought he was gay. The realy star revealed his classmat thought he may be gay as they qutned his fah and abstence om sex, wrg: "It was one of those thgs where you hear somethg so often, you start believg .

(Follow @alyroe on Twter) story is part of ESPN's ongog seri explorg what means to be an openly gay athlete the post-acceptance world.

BACHELOR COLTON UNRWOOD LOOKS HAPPY & RELAXED WH OLYMPIC SKIER G KENWORTHY ON NYC STROLL BEFORE G OUT AS GAY

G Kenworthy reflects on the "privilege" of beg an out gay athlete as he prepar to reprent Team GB at his fal Wter Olympics. * kenworthy gay athlete *

And so, as we s down together Los Angel September, he begs the only way he knows how: "I gus I should start by sayg, 'I'm gay. Take, for stance, the former sponsor who ma a c anti-gay remark about why Kenworthy was once late to a petn. Take his physil therapist, who once told Kenworthy that he uldn't even image talkg to a gay guy all night.

Today, might be a Facebook rant or an Instagram post om a pro snowboarr who's annoyed that "skier fags" have filtrated another ntt or plag that a shoddy halfpipe is "gay.

A ltle more than five weeks om today, the Wter Olympics will start Pyeongchang, South Korea, and feature that rart of speci — an openly gay male Olympian. The etyle skier, who me out 2015, do not shy away om beg a gay role mol — he wel , as he told Time a wi-rangg terview. “The thought of beg the first openly gay male ever to pete the Wter Olympics — I totally embrace that, ” says Kenworthy.

ROOT FOR OLYMPIAN G KENWORTHY BEE HE EMBRAC BEG A GAY ATHLETE

G Kenworthy is one of the first openly gay athlet extreme sport, tersectg athleticism wh the LGBTQ+ muny. He discs wh here.  * kenworthy gay athlete *

(Kenworthy will likely not be the only gay male Olympian Pyeongchang, so he will have to share the first-ever signatn. Eat your heart out, Mike Pence, and anyone else predisposed to sneerg at his good, gay took the etyle skier 24 years to get to this place — to stop hidg, to love himself unabashedly — and that is more valuable to him than his sloptyle silver medal om the Sochi Olympics.

“But there are also many parts of the world where beg gay is punishable by ath, punishable by jail time.

#TeamUSA #TeamUSGay”Rippon has been outspoken his cricism of Vice Print Pence, who led the official U.

SKIER G KENWORTHY GIV GAY ATHLET SOMETHG HE DIDN’T HAVE: A ROLE MOL

In addn to beg a role mol for openly gay athlet, G Kenworthy is also hopg to achieve a rare Olympic feat by wng a medal for two different untri. The star skier spoke wh CNN’s Coy Wire about returng to the Wter Gam unr a different flag. * kenworthy gay athlete *

“As a kid, I jt felt like I didn’t really have anyone to look up to that I felt like I uld really relate to, someone that was out and gay and also petg sports and fdg succs, ” Kenworthy said.

”Later, he nsired the USOC’s toutg of s diverse team a “ankly, embarrassg lndry list of how many Ain-Amerins, Asians and openly gay athlet are on this year’s U. “So I’m so proud that now you n exist as a gay man and be an Olympian, and n be beneficial rather than negative, ” Kenworthy said. When talkg about LGBT+ rights and persecutn, G is keenly aware of his privilege as a cis, whe, gay man – he says he’s “sort of at the top of the privilege pyramid” and has “the least to worry about pared to so many other people the muny”.

G KENWORTHY SAYS FEARS OF BEG AN OUT ATHLETE WERE “UNFOUND” AS HE VERS GAY TIMES

G Kenworthy is ee. Eat your heart out, Mike Pence, and anyone else predisposed to sneerg at his good, gay life. * kenworthy gay athlete *

They say they hate abortn bee they re about children, but then they don’t give a s**t about those children if those kids grow up to be gay or trans. They say they hate abortn bee they re about children, but then they don’t give a s**t about those children if those kids grow up to be gay or trans or whatever is.

In his send ver terview wh GAY TIMES, G Kenworthy reflects on the “privilege” of beg an openly gay athlete as he prepar to reprent Team GB at his third – and fal – Wter Olympics.

The 30-year-old etyle skier memorably ma history 2015 when he beme the first actn sports star to e out as gay.

INACCURACI SPREAD AS OLYMPIC MEDALIST G KENWORTHY OUT AS GAY

While the s of Rapoe and Kenworthy have proven the viabily of high-profile endorsements for LGBT athlet -- their sponsors have monstrated their fahfulns a profound way -- a quiet yet persistent fear remas among the gay athlete muny that other pani may not be so supportive. * kenworthy gay athlete *

“It was the visual reprentatn of my gam: gettg to be one of the first openly gay athlet to pete at the Wter Olympics for the US, ” he tells GAY TIMES.

Kenworthy says beg an openly gay athlete is a “privilege” that wh certa rponsibili, and that he supports Tom Daley’s ll to ban untri where people are persecuted for beg LGBTQ+ om the Olympics – not jt as a pot of prciple, but as a “talyst for change”. In our terview, Kenworthy also speaks passnately about beg an ally to trans athlet – strsg that solid allyship volv “tryg to amplify their voic and not speakg on behalf of them” – and the lack of openly gay profsnal football players. Wh youth soccer the most played sport on the pla, Kenworthy says any high-profile footballer who out would be “helpg a lot of queer kids”, addg: “I played soccer high school and I remember feelg like was kd of homophobic, so image the impact that person uld have?

You n read G Kenworthy’s ver terview wh GAY TIMES full om 21 January via the GAY TIMES app, Apple News+, Readly, and Flipster.

OLYMPIAN G KENWORTHY ON HIS IMPACT AS THE 'GAY SKIER' — AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE SOCHI DOGS

* kenworthy gay athlete *

But the first openly gay athlete actn sports is not one of ’s always excg when an athlete out, pecially a male athlete who generally fac more prejudice and potentially homophobic reactns the sportg world. Thanks to an ESPN social media headle, and the “slug” or lk addrs of the article, the ia quickly ught on that Kenworthy is the first openly gay athlete actn sports (often lled extreme sports) is unequivolly Kenworthy will surely make wav by g out, referrg to him as the “first openly gay actn sports athlete” disregards the many out LGBT pro skaters, snowboarrs, ski jumpers, mounta bikers, BMX rirs, and other figur that have been phg boundari extreme sports for of the out pro actn sports athlet are women, though there are also famo gay men and fearls trans athlet, too. Gve was out om the start, wh a fearls, “fuck you” attu to hand anyone who had a problem wh gay athlet.

’ Von Werne was sentially forced to the closet and out of sports, and is now a scientist livg London wh his hband, acrdg to a 2011 article 2002, not only was skateboarr Jarrett Berry thought to be the first openly gay male skater, he also posed for the ver of the skate rag Big Brother dog grds on a rail while wearg a pair of assls chaps. Nowadays, if you ask anyone actn sports whether there are out LGBT athlet, they might name some of the six out Olympians that peted at Sochi, cludg snowboarrs Cheryl Maas and Belle Brockoff, and gay ski-jumper Daniela Iraschko-Stolz.

SKIER G KENWORTHY GIV GAY ATHLET SOMETHG HE DIDN'T HAVE: A ROLE MOL

Maas famoly protted Rsia’s anti-gay laws by raisg a rabow glove to the air after fishg the Sloptyle event. Baker won a gold medal street skatg 2014, while Torr took home gold the skatepark tegory 2003 and silver the street event the next and Torr aren’t the only out gay pro skaters, but both are notably domant at the X Gam—which is sponsored by ESPN. When the Amerin etyle skier G Kenworthy shared a kiss wh boyiend Matthew Wilkas at the bottom of the hill before Sunday morng’s ski sloptyle qualifyg, neher was immediately aware the moment was ptured by NBC’s the signifince of an openly gay male athlete kissg another man on primetime work televisn durg one of the world’s biggt llective experienc was not lost on the Saturday night dience back home the Uned Stat where quickly went viral and was feted by LGBT activists as a marker of progrs amid the broadster’s much-cricized handlg of gay Brish-born Kenworthy, petg spe sufferg a broken thumb durg trag on Thursday and havg six vials of blood draed om a hematoma on his hip, was one of eight skiers to sre 90 or better qualifyg for the afternoon fal at the Phoenix Snow Park, where he ultimately failed to land any of his three ns and fished last out of 12 falists.

“I thk that the only way to really change perceptns, break down homophobia, break down barriers is through reprentatn. I fely didn’t see a gay athlete at the Olympics kissg their boyiend and I thk that if I had would have ma a lot easier for me, so hopefully did that for other people.

He creded Wilkas for his succs a Saturday tweet, llg the actor his “Seoul mate”, and was even name-checked by longtime gay in Brney Spears the hours before Sunday’s which Olympics experience was more meangful: wng a silver while the closet or missg the podium while livg an thentic life? ”Kenworthy is one of a rerd number of openly gay Olympians at the Wter Gam, cludg Amerin figure skater Adam Rippon, who won a team bronze and fished 10th Saturday’s dividual petn, addn to at least a dozen more om other prence was amplified by the cisn to send vice print Mike Pence to last week’s openg ceremony as the head of the US legatn. ”The skier ntued to h out at the former Indiana ernor after touchg down South Korea, alludg to Pence’s right-of-center rerd on gay rights an Instagram post after the openg ceremony and quippg about the hidn upsi to Thursday’s broken thumb: “It won’t stop me om petg (obvi) but do prevent me om shakg Pence’s hand so...

FOR CLOSETED GAY ATHLET, ENDORSEMENT FEARS PERSIST

The followg year, Kenworthy announced he was gay on the ver of ESPN the Magaze, the first Amerin actn sports petor to do so.

In late January, Kenworthy qualified for Team USA, makg him one of two openly gay men to pete for Ameri at the Wter Olympics alongsi figure skater Adam Rippon, who ma the cut earlier that month.

“Bee some regards ’s your own bs, ’s not really anybody else’s, but I thk that the reason that I wanted to do a big way and make a big splash was bee ’s so unexpected our sport and actn sports, and I thk that the only way to really battle homophobia and battle stereotyp is jt by havg visibily and beg public and open and hont and thentic. “I don’t thk I uld have e out as a gay athlete 30 years ago and expected to be succsful my sport, ” he told TIME December.

'MY STORY IS INDITIVE OF CHANGE.' OPENLY GAY SKIER G KENWORTHY IS EMBRACG HIS ROLE AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS

“I don’t thk that one thg f me, but I know that by g out the way that I did sort of almost pneerg actn sports — to take that stand — that ’s always gog to be a label that is stuck wh me and I know that I’ll always be the ‘gay skier, ’ and actually don’t bother me, ” he said. (Photo by Tom Penngton/Getty Imag) G Kenworthy is one of the first openly gay athlet extreme sport, tersectg masculy and athleticism wh the LGBTQ+ muny.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* KENWORTHY GAY ATHLETE

Gay athlete G Kenworthy and butts galore highlight ESPN Body Issue - Outsports .

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