Seven Fabulo “Out” Gay Men of Figure Skatg | Total Engagement Consultg by Kimer

Contents:

• THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 39 GAY OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS. HERE’S THE LIST
• THREE OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS E OUT — 2 GAY MEN AND 1 QUEER WOMAN
• 16 GAY AND BI OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS
• 'GAYT SPORT AMERI'
• INSI FIGURE SKATG'S 'GAY PROBLEM'
• THERE ARE 8 OUT GAY MALE SKATERS AT THE OLYMPICS. IN 2014, THERE WERE 0.
• SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG
• 'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE
• OAKS PARK GAY SKATE IS ON A ROLL
• GAY ABANDON REQUIRED OZEN CLOSET OF MALE ICE SKATG

THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 39 GAY OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS. HERE’S THE LIST

There have been at least 39 gay men to pete figure skatg at the Wter Olympic Gam over the years, wh eight publicly out men petg 2022. LGBT historian Tony Scupham-Bilton has intified the men over the years, cludg a pastakg procs of intifyg who is gay. The three athlet are: Amerin sgl figure skater Jason Brown, who is gay; Canadian ice dancer Pl Poirier, who is gay, and Canadian ice dancer Kalyn Weaver, who is queer.

“[Beg a gay athlete] hasn’t been somethg that I’ve really talked about very much, pecially a public settg, ” Poirier said.

But he kept his sexualy a private matter until 2014, when the Uned Stat sent a legatn to Rsia ma up of high-profile gay athlet. "I never felt like I need to before, so whether people figured out if I was gay or not, I had to make official, why I had to e out publicly.

THREE OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS E OUT — 2 GAY MEN AND 1 QUEER WOMAN

But he never mentned beg gay until he started playg hockey for the Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn, where he started lerally wearg that part of his inty on his sleeve, somethg he discsed wh The Hockey News 2012. Shortly before petg at Worlds that same year, the German newspaper Bild-Zeung outed Curry as gay, g a mor sndal Europe, but Curry went on to w the event anyway, makg him the first skater to w the European, Olympic and World champnships a sgle season, acrdg to the BBC.

After years of qutns of whether he and Babilonia would ever date, Gardner revealed to Scene magaze 2006 that he was gay.

While qutns about the flamboyant skater followed him through his reer -- two Canadian broadsters ught flak and spired a Pri Hoe prott after makg homophobic ments about Weir at the 2010 Olympics -- he did not e out until 2011, when he revealed he was gay his memoir, Wele to My World.

16 GAY AND BI OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS

Stt Haton his book Landg It later creded Pockar and Rob McCall for helpg him get over personal homophobia, but Haton also got cricized for posthumoly outg the men.

Hendrickx spoke January spoke to Dutch media outlet ZiZo about what 's like to travel an ternatnal sport when homosexualy is still owned upon much of the world. Spanish LGBT media outlet reported that Raya was the first Spanish Olympian ever to publicly announce he was gay. When Adam Rippon pet at the Olympics this year, will be the first time an openly gay figure skater reprents the Uned Stat an dividual event.

But figure skatg has always provid an athletic arena for gay men, even if most historilly waed to e out publicly after their Olympic reer me to a close. But he never mentned beg gay until he started playg hockey for the Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn, where he started lerally wearg that part of his inty on his sleeve, somethg he discsed wh The Hockey News Curry, Uned Kgdom, Men's SglThe Brish skater, famo for brgg ballet and dance mov to men's sgl, won the gold at the 1976 gam Innsbck, where he also acted as flag bearer for his natn.

'GAYT SPORT AMERI'

Stt Haton his book Landg It later creded Pockar and Rob McCall for helpg him get over personal homophobia, but Haton also got cricized for posthumoly outg the O'Meara, USA, Ice DancgThe ice dancer reprented the Uned Stat at the 2006 gam Toro alongsi skatg partner Jamie Silverste. You n fd untls pop culture referenc about skatg where 's a punch le to a joke -- TV shows like Friends ("I'm an ice dancer -- all my iends are gay! That uldn't be farther om the prence of queer skaters the sport n be traced as far back as the 1950s, wasn't until 2018 that Adam Rippon and Eric Radford beme the first out gay figure skaters to pete at the Olympics.

INSI FIGURE SKATG'S 'GAY PROBLEM'

We had to sort of play by those l bee beg gay on the Olympic stage and the world stage, an ele athlete, you have to be reful bee the reputatn of endorsements was on the table. So we had to be very mdful of that, and I knew that, so I had to sort of lie and not be tthful about all [my skatg partner Tai and I] turned pro 1980, and did Ice Capas and all that, was a ltle better bee people on the show were gay. I thk that the outsi assumptn is that everybody skatg is gay, and that bee of that would jt be a very safe place for queer people.

THERE ARE 8 OUT GAY MALE SKATERS AT THE OLYMPICS. IN 2014, THERE WERE 0.

As soon as I entered a more ser rk when I was around 10, and really started pursug more serly, I was super, super nsc of the fact that they were nng a b through every kid through the lens of "Is this kid gay? " I mean, I was asked if I was gay at a very, very young age and told that I was gay and told that I was very, very, very gay-- jt like the most. [Growg up, ] my only unrstandg of gay people or of queer people was when our prit, our preacher, was speakg about them the church.

SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG

Joe has talked about [how] he felt trated by the fact that people jt assumed he was a gay man bee he was a figure skater. Natnal champn and a two-time world middle school and certaly high school, was like, "Oh, you [do] figure skatg, you mt be gay, " and people askg me, "Oh, well, if you n skate that well, why don't you play hockey?

I n tell you for certa I wasn't gog to get up at my [2002] Olympic prs nference and be like, "Oh, and by the way, I'm gay. Figure Skatg Diversy, Equy, and Incln Task kd of knew of the officials that were gay, maybe some of the skaters that were gay, but they didn't really talk about . I was almost dyg to learn this history of gays skatg that I didn't even know about bee was somethg that nobody ever talked about.

I would even say, to this day, I'm still learng more and more about wonrful ntributors to this sport of figure skatg the past that we maybe didn't hear so much about jt bee they were gay. After g out as gay an Instagram post 2020, Bank hop to show younger athlet “that they n be whomever they are, or want to be, whout discrimatn.

'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE

Radford ma history as the first petive figure skater to e out as gay while still petg for champnship tl 2014, pavg the way for future LGBTQ+ athlet to e out. But when you tune to the Wter Olympics, not one of the figure skatg ntenrs any disciple (sgl, pairs, dance) will be an out gay man. There will be gay men petg Tur, to be sure -- cludg some who nsir themselv to be out their personal liv -- but not one who will say so on the public rerd.

OAKS PARK GAY SKATE IS ON A ROLL

And do that mean nothg has changed what Jon Jackson, an openly gay skatg judge, lls "the gayt sport Ameri"?

GAY ABANDON REQUIRED OZEN CLOSET OF MALE ICE SKATG

Tryg not to be emed gay skatg requir behavr rangg om the overt, such as datg women, to tails so subtle that they affect the very way the skater mov his limbs while puttg himself out there to be judged. This across every discsn I've had wh a gay skater, that they really feel that they have to prent themselv as a 'passable' mascule skater, " said Jackson.

So gay skaters eher e out long after their petive reers are over, as 1979 world champn Randy Gardner (wh pair partner Tai Babilonia) jt did January, or when they're so far off the radar screen that their feratns aren't monorg them, as happened whRudy Galdo 1995 when he was nsired a has-been. What's changed sce 1996, though, is that many of the Olympic-eligible gay skaters nsir themselv to be fully out their personal liv. "Wh the rk environment, for the most part, I'm noticg more and more that the ach, the fellow skaters are all very acceptg and fortable and not the least b bothered by gay men.