Wter Olympics 2018: Team USA's first openly gay male Olympians march wh pri openg ceremony - BBC Sport

Contents:

• GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS
• WTER OLYMPICS 2018: TEAM USA'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS MARCH WH PRI OPENG CEREMONY
• OUT AND PROUD - GAY ATHLET
• ADAM RIPPON AND G KENWORTHY TALK COMPETG AS OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS: 'IT'S JT US EXISTG'
• SKIER G KENWORTHY GIV GAY ATHLET SOMETHG HE DIDN’T HAVE: A ROLE MOL
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
• OLYMPIANS ADAM RIPPON AND G KENWORTHY ON MIKE PENCE, VISIBILY, AND BEG GAY INS
• WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE
• THIS IS HOW ALL OF THE OUT GAY, LBIAN AND BI OLYMPIANS DID THIS WEEKEND
• AMERI’S GAY OLYMPIANS HOPE THAT 20 YEARS, ‘GAY OLYMPIANS’ WON’T BE A THG
• STUNT ESSAY: GAY OLYMPIANS ARE CHANGG THE WORLD
• ADAM RIPPON MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY AMERIN MAN TO W AT THE WTER OLYMPICS
• AMERI'S GAY OLYMPIANS HOPE THAT 20 YEARS 'GAY OLYMPIANS' WON'T BE A THG

GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS

Qutned about the choice of Pence January, Rippon said: “You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that fund gay nversn therapy? Rippon’s team claim to have turned down approach om Pence’s team for the two to meet – although Pence’s team have disputed is also notable for a riposte he gave to beg asked what is like to be a gay athlete – “It’s exactly like beg a straight athlete. Earlier this week Fox News published, then leted, a lumn by executive edor John Moody, who had wrten that the US Olympic Commtee was tryg to change the Olympic motto om “Faster, Higher, Stronger” to “Darker, Gayer, Different” acceptance of out gay athlet petg Pyeongchang mak a sharp ntrast to the official approach to LGBT rights at the prev Wter Olympics.

In 2014, Sochi’s mayor Anatoly Pakhomov dismissed ncerns about Rsia’s track rerd on equaly by assertg that there were no gay people the cy.

Prr to those Gam, more than 50 current and former Olympians backed the Prciple 6 mpaign agast Rsia’s anti-gay laws, named after the clse the Olympic charter that guarante non-discrimatn. If that young kid was able to see someone on TV — someone siar to myself, who was openly gay and wng medals — then maybe that would give them the nfince to feel was tly possible for them. But openly gay and lbian athlet are another matter, pecially the Wter Olympics, which mak a uple of recent ton all the more noteworthy.

WTER OLYMPICS 2018: TEAM USA'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS MARCH WH PRI OPENG CEREMONY

First, Team USA’s Adam Rippon ma history by beg the first out gay man om the US to medal a Wter Olympics by takg home the bronze for his ee skate performance.

Then, Canadian Eric Radford beme the first openly gay Wter Olympics champn after wng the gold wh partner Meagan Duhamel the pairs ee skate performance. Rippon is one of two openly gay Amerin athlet to reprent team USA for the first time the Wter Olympics, along wh etyle skig’s G Kenworthy.

OUT AND PROUD - GAY ATHLET

The number of openly gay athlet is still relatively small, and those who e out tend to do so after their first major petns – for a variety of reasons. Brian Boano, the 1988 Olympic figure skatg gold medalist, announced he was gay 2013, after Print Obama named him to the official US legatn to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Flash forward to the openg ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018 and the Sochi silver medallist walked to the Olympic stadium wh Team USA as one of their first openly gay male Wter Olympic athlet. Skater Rippon had cricised Pence durg an terview wh USA Today for exprsg anti-LGBT views and acced him of supportg gay nversn therapy, which Pence's ais have an emotnal terview wh Ski Sunday 2017, Kenworthy said of all the thgs he has done his life, he was most proud of g out. Brockhoff me out publicly as gay 2013 prr to the 2014 Sochi Gam as a prott agast anti-LGBT laws that were passed Rsia.

At least 186 publicly out gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer and nonbary athlet were Tokyo for the Summer Olympic Gam, more than triple the number who participated at the 2016 R Gam.

ADAM RIPPON AND G KENWORTHY TALK COMPETG AS OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS: 'IT'S JT US EXISTG'

“Competg at the Olympics as an openly gay athlete is pretty amazg, ” Canadian swimmer Mark Thormeyer told Outsports. Thormeyer was not out when he peted at the 2016 R Olympics and me out publicly as gay a 2020 say for Outsports.

Elissa Alarie (Canada)#Brt Benn (Canada)#Kelly Brazier (New Zealand)Gayle Broughton (New Zealand)#Isadora Cello (Brazil) Lren Doyle (USA)#Mara Fravanti (Brazil)#Megan Jon (Bra)Alev Kelter (USA)Ghislae Landry (Canada)#Kaili Lan (Canada)#Celia Quansah (Bra)Kristen Thomas (USA)Ruby Tui (New Zealand)#Sharni Williams (Atralia)Portia Woodman (New Zealand). The two men, who quickly beme iends after learng they are the only two openly gay men on Team USA at the PyeongChang Olympics, discsed their Wter Gam experience on Friday’s episo of the Today show.

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

“I me here beg thentilly myself and sharg my story and beg gay is part of that, but I me here as an Amerin athlete” remarked Rippon, who ma history when he beme the first openly gay Amerin athlete to w a medal durg the figure skatg team event.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS

I got out there bee — ’s not jt gay kids, I thk that everybody n relate to beg different or feelg like they’re not good enough or they’ll never make bee they’re om a small town, or maybe they jt don’t feel like they’re good enough. “I didn’t know if the gay skier would be an image that anyone would want to get behd and support, ” he ntued. 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.

“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.

OLYMPIANS ADAM RIPPON AND G KENWORTHY ON MIKE PENCE, VISIBILY, AND BEG GAY INS

“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. Figure skater Adam Rippon will be one of two openly gay Amerins petg the 2018 Wter Olympics, a first for the U. But there’s one thg Rippon won’t be hidg – this year, he and etyle skier G Kenworthy will bee the first openly gay Amerin men to ever pete the Wter Olympics.

WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE

Even so, the last time that the Uned Stat sent an openly gay man to any Olympic Gam was 2004, when equtrians Guenter Seil and Robert Dover won bronze team drsage. It was Dover’s sixth time reprentg the Uned Stat at the Olympics; durg his send Gam, 1988, Dover me out, beg the first openly gay athlete to pete the morn Olympics. "I wish that all gay athlet would e out all discipl – football, baseball, the Olympics, whatever, " Dover has said.

THIS IS HOW ALL OF THE OUT GAY, LBIAN AND BI OLYMPIANS DID THIS WEEKEND

Ined, by the time Dover me out on the ternatnal stage, was clear that gay athlet were petg and wng all levels of profsnal sports. ) And 1982, former Olympian Tom Wadll – who would die om AIDS at the height of the epimic five years later – helped found the first Gay Gam for LGBT athlet. Curry acknowledged that the mors about his sexualy were te, but when journalists asked prient qutns betrayg the era’s misnceptns about homosexualy and masculy, Curry fought back: “I don’t thk I lack virily, and what other people thk of me don’t matter, ” he said.

AMERI’S GAY OLYMPIANS HOPE THAT 20 YEARS, ‘GAY OLYMPIANS’ WON’T BE A THG

There, a fiery, unflchg athletic spectacle, Curry abandoned his ual lively route of skips and hops for a stern technil masterpiece, makg him the first openly gay athlete to perform on the Olympic stage. LGBT journalists and historians, cludg Zeigler and Tony Scupham-Bilton, have talogued the many Olympians who were homosexual but peted a time before beg “out” was safe and acceptable. German nner Otto Peltzer, for stance, peted the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, but was arrted by the Nazis 1934 for his homosexualy and was later sent to the ncentratn mps.

Louganis was long mored to be gay, but didn’t e out publicly until the openg ceremoni of the 1994 Gay Gam: "Wele to the Gay Gam, ” Louganis said to the crowd. Though the early history of openly gay Olympians is dotted wh male athlet, openly gay women have quietly gaed prevalence recent petns. At the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijg, 11 openly gay athlet peted, only one of whom – Atralian diver Matthew Mcham, who won gold and is a vol LGBT activist – was a man.

All six openly gay athlet at the 2010 Wter Olympics Vanuver were women, as were all seven of the openly gay athlet at the 2014 Wter Olympics Sochi. Both of the terveng Summer Olympics saw a greater turnout of openly gay athlet, but women still held the large majory.

STUNT ESSAY: GAY OLYMPIANS ARE CHANGG THE WORLD

Wh this year’s Wter Gam Pyeongchang, Rippon and Kenworthy are the first openly gay Amerin men to pete the Olympics sce the legaly of same-sex marriage was tablished throughout the Uned Stat 2015, and the cultural shift is apparent. The summer before hostg the Wter Olympics, what many saw as an afont to gay rights activism, the Rsian ernment passed a law prohibg the promotn of “nontradnal” sexual relatnships to mors. The Uned Stat ed the Olympic platform as an opportuny for subtle prott, cludg proment gay athlet Brian Boano, Billie Jean Kg and Cal Cahow s Olympic legatn, and protts were staged across the world.

Rippon recently ma headl when he refed an offer to meet wh Vice Print Mike Pence due to disagreements wh his stanc on LGBT rights – which clu past statements that appear to support fundg gay nversn therapy.

ADAM RIPPON MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY AMERIN MAN TO W AT THE WTER OLYMPICS

There are only two openly gay athlet on Team USA at this year’s wter Olympics: figure skater Adam Rippon and etyle skier G new iendship and visibily at the gam has already sparked some cricism, but there has mostly been an outpourg of support om the LGBTQ muny and athlet have e out as part of the LGBTQ muny after their Olympic reers, but this is first time that Amerin athlet who are petg the wter gam are openly RipponRippon, 28, is the first openly gay athlete to make a U.

“Beg gay has never been a big al to me, which is why ’s a ltle funny to be gettg all this attentn about , ” he told gave a strong performance Sunday night to help the U. — Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) Febary 5, 2018I was recently asked an terview what s like to be a gay athlete sports.

AMERI'S GAY OLYMPIANS HOPE THAT 20 YEARS 'GAY OLYMPIANS' WON'T BE A THG

Olympic legatn 2014 at the Sochi wter gam, sendg a cril msage of Put’s anti-gay legatn for the closg ceremony Sochi also clud Cal Cahow, a two-time Olympic medalist ice hockey, and Brian Boano, who won the 1988 gold medal for figure skatg—both openly gay athlet who were closeted durg their time reprentg Team USA. A rerd number of LGBTQ athlet participated the 2016 summer Olympics R Janeiro, Brazil, wh more than 40 openly lbian, gay, and bisexual petors reprentg untri om around the USA R clud four openly lbian players on the women’s basketball team: Delle Donne, Brtney Grer, Seimone Augt, and Angel McCoughtry. Sent an openly gay man to the Olympics was 2004 when Robert Dover, who me out 1988, won a bronze medal team drsage, a summer Olympics and Kenworthy both emphasize the importance of beg out and visible on this ternatnal stage and the signifince for LGBTQ athlet years to e.

His gay and lbian iends San Francis, though, had never experienced an event as thrillg or movg as the openg ceremony. And so Wadll created the Gay Gam – then lled the Gay Olympics, until the Internatnal Olympic Commtee sued over the name. Wadll died 1987, but the Gay Gam ntue to this day, growg to an ternatnal phenomenon sce their first eratn.

They draw over 10, 000 athlet and sometim seven or eight tim as many spectators, said Shiv Pl, vice print of external relatns for the Feratn of Gay Gam. And unlike at the Olympics, activism is enuraged at the Gay Gam, as has been sce the begng when the HIV/AIDS crisis was ravagg LGBTQ muni.