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

Contents:

• WTER OLYMPICS 2018: TEAM USA'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE OLYMPIANS MARCH WH PRI OPENG CEREMONY
• WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE
• WTER OLYMPICS 2018: GAY SKIER G KENWORTHY MAK U.S. TEAM, 'PRI' AD AIRS
• ANTI-SEMISM NMNED, JEWS HONORED AND GAY PRI CELEBRATED BY OLYMPIA CY COUNCIL
• GAY PRI CALENDAR
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS

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

Pri brgs together the gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenred and allied muni to affirm and celebrate LGBTQ inty. “We lnched our small-town Pri 28 years ago wh 400 people marchg on the Capal for gay rights. It draws nearly 15, 000 people for events that une gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenred, other-intified and straight people om all over the Pacific Northwt.

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.

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

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.

Olympia Pri aims to brg together 15, 000 people om the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muni along wh their alli this weekend. 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.

WTER OLYMPICS 2018: GAY SKIER G KENWORTHY MAK U.S. TEAM, 'PRI' AD AIRS

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.

ANTI-SEMISM NMNED, JEWS HONORED AND GAY PRI CELEBRATED BY OLYMPIA CY COUNCIL

History shows that every society and culture, human begs have refed to f to a narrow sex-and-genr box, yet for s the Uned Stat ernment attempted to reprs and discrimate agast gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and other “queer” exprsns of sexualy. In the 1960s, durg the birth of Stokely Carmichael’s “Black Is Betiful” mpaign, gay civil-rights pneer Frank Kameny startg g the slogan “Gay Is Good” to nont social stigma.

On June 28, 1969, lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and qutng persons rted after a police raid on a New York Cy gay bar lled the Stonewall Inn. On the same weekend, gay activist groups on the Wt Coast held a march Los Angel and a march and “Gay-In” San Francis.

By the 1970s, gay-pri march were takg place Boston, Dallas, London, Milwkee, New York, Paris, San Francis, Stockholm and Wt Berl. For eight years, om 2009 to 2016, Print Obama clared each June “Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Pri Month.

GAY PRI CALENDAR

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. “The formula for succs was visibily and inty, ” Wadll said an terview followg the first Gay Gam 1982.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS

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. Above all, though, the Gay Gam are an event for queer and trans people to gather safely, play sports they love and be themselv whout fear of tolerance.

The first Gay Gam were held San Francis 1982, where transmissn of HIV had peaked among the cy’s btlg gay muny. The Gay Gam uld be an act of prott then, too, Wadll cid, an event durg which LGBTQ people uld play the same sports they watched durg the Olympics and achieve the same kd of glory he had at the 1968 Olympics. HIV/AIDS awarens has been baked to the Gay Gam sce s ceptn: In addn to banng discrimatn based on genr, sexualy, race and other tras, the Gay Gam wouldn’t allow any participant to be turned away based on their HIV stat.