Skier G Kenworthy’s New Life as an Openly Gay Actn Sports Star

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

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SKIER G KENWORTHY’S NEW LIFE AS AN OPENLY GAY ACTN SPORTS STAR

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(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. 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. If they knew he was gay, would the kids idolize him as much?

Would his iends stop g "gay" as a scriptor for all thgs that suck? Kenworthy knew he was gay as early as 5 years old and felt different om other boys.

"Unls you're gay, beg gay has never been looked at as beg ol. Gay marriage is legal now, attus are changg. Take, for stance, the former sponsor who ma a c anti-gay remark about why Kenworthy was once late to a petn.

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

It matters big time a sport where beg gay has long been thought of as unol. * gus gay snowboarder *

Take his physil therapist, who once told Kenworthy that he uldn't even image talkg to a gay guy all night. ("I thought, 'You've talked to a gay guy for two hours a day, four days a week for seven months.

' ")Take the nstant dmbeat of livg a culture that the words "gay" and "fag" as monly as "stoked. 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.

"I'm sure there have been gay actn sports athlet the past, " Dorey says. 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. He and figure skater Adam Rippon are Team USA’s first openly gay male Wter Olympians.

WHY 'S IMPORTANT THAT SKIER G KENWORTHY ME OUT AS GAY

And dog so as a gay man mak me feel amazg.

And he’s gay. “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. He wants to provi visn for other gay athlet or anyone foragg life to fd a fortable place. “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.

5 GAY SNOWBOARRS E OUT TOGETHER

REUTERS/Damir Sagolj (Damir Sagolj/Rters)Kenworthy don’t want to be known merely as “the gay skier, the gay Olympian. Olympic Commtee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different. ”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. "If that's your general rponse when some new public figure announc to the media that he or she is gay or lbian, I unrstand. Wh this half of Ameri's populatn -- the half who say they wouldn't attend a gay weddg if ved -- g out is still a very big al.

In this half of Ameri, 's still perfectly legal for a pany to fire you simply bee they don't want to work alongsi a gay person. This is where people rally and cheer for anti-gay unty clerks. Here, bullied gay youngsters -- as young as 11 years old -- are still takg their own liv.

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Olympic ekier and X Gam star G Kenworthy first openly gay actn sports athlete - ESPN .

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