There Are Now Two Openly Gay (& Geo) Figure Skaters Who've Qualified For This Year's Olympics

Contents:

• THREE OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS E OUT — 2 GAY MEN AND 1 QUEER WOMAN
• 16 GAY AND BI OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• 'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE
• THERE ARE 8 OUT GAY MALE SKATERS AT THE OLYMPICS. IN 2014, THERE WERE 0.
• SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG

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

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

16 GAY AND BI OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATERS

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 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.

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. 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. 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.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Skaters would later say McCall's homosexualy had been an open secret wh the sport. 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. He me out publicly as gay 2008, and told that many gay skaters pete but don't discs their sexualy publicly.

The gay skater prevly hoped to make the team 2006 and 2010 but fell short both years. -- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn. Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game Associated Prs ntributed to this report.

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.

'QUEER SKATEBOARDG': PHOTOGRAPHER DOCUMENTS GAY SKATER CULTURE

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

Two years later, be me out as gay an Instagram post. Spanish LGBT media outlet reported that Raya was the first Spanish Olympian ever to publicly announce he was gay. ”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.

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

“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.

SEVEN FABULO “OUT” GAY MEN OF FIGURE SKATG

Last week, Amerin figure skater Adam Rippon ma history as the first openly gay man to qualify for the U. Rippon, 28, will jo fellow skaters Nathan Chen and Vcent Zhou reprentg Ameri Pyeongchang, South Korea next so we're clear about the talent we're alg wh here:Rippon has been a loud, proud voice of queerns durg this season's qualifyg petns:Now, another openly gay skater has joed the petn: pairs skater Eric Radford, who will be petg wh his partner Meagan Duhamel for Canada. When the Wter Olympics figure skatg petn starts Beijg, there will be a rerd eight out gay men eher sgl, pairs or dance.