There have been 39 gay Olympic figure skaters. Here’s the list - Outsports

Contents:

• 'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE
• THREE OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS E OUT — 2 GAY MEN AND 1 QUEER WOMAN
• THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 39 GAY OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS. HERE’S THE LIST
• SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG
• THERE ARE 8 OUT GAY MALE SKATERS AT THE OLYMPICS. IN 2014, THERE WERE 0.

'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE

”Self-portra of photographer Ross Lannberger Oak Ridge, LannbergerLannberger adms that as a gay kid skateboardg at his lol skate park a suburban Tennsee, he never felt all that weled by other skateboarrs. “Once I was a ltle b olr, and knowg I was gay, and people throwg around slurs all the time, jt beg around that, I had no tert beg iends wh the people.

It wasn’t until profsnal skateboarr Brian Anrson me out as gay 2016, that Lannberger began to realize there uld be a space for him to be openly gay while also beg embraced wh a sometim homophobic skateboardg culture. "Skateboarr Ryan Schertz, LannbergerSce 2017, Lannberger has been travelg to different ci and documentg the liv of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer skateboarrs for his photo project tled “Queer Skateboardg. Three Olympic figure skaters have e out for Pri Month, cludg two gay men and a queer woman.

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. I’m gay, and that’s a story still beg wrten...

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

“[Beg a gay athlete] hasn’t been somethg that I’ve really talked about very much, pecially a public settg, ” Poirier said. 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 gay men have bed for 15 Olympic medals, wh several ready to pete pairs figure skatg later this week. Five other gay athlet have been named as alternat.

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

In addn to the 37 gay men, Timothy LeDuc is nonbary and will make their Olympic but this week. Six of the gay men to pete have won Olympic gold medals:.

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. " Of urse, there have been numero gay skaters at the Olympics -- multiple queer Olympic champns, even...

SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG

I thk as I got olr, was fely this ternalized sense of homophobia that I felt was pletely rampant. So I skated to Ida Corr, this club song om 2007 (keepg current), and you know, was kda gay.

And so I remember I jt kept this program and I skated at Skate Ameri, this like gay-ish program. 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. 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.

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

I thk 's only seen [that there is] one kd of queer person, which is a gay person-- and to be hont, a gay man. [Growg up, ] my only unrstandg of gay people or of queer people was when our prit, our preacher, was speakg about them the church.

And would be a hellfire speech sayg, "gay people are abomatns and gog to hell" and "you better not be gay.

" And that was my only unrstandg of gay people, so never nnected for me. I started referrg to myself as queer [about] four years ago, rather than gay.