An LGBTQ party on the slop at Gay Ski Week Telluri, Colorado - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• AN LGBTQ PARTY ON THE SLOP AT TELLURI GAY SKI WEEK
• OLYMPIAN SAYS GAY MEN ARE WARDS, SO THERE AREN’T GAY MALE PRO SKIERS
• ESTATE AGENT JAILED FOR VIC ATTACK ON TWO GAY MEN HOLDG HANDS
• THE 10 BT GAY SKIG HOLIDAYS
• HIG ROBERTS SAYS LIFE IS ‘GENTLER AND EASIER’ SCE G OUT AS GAY LAST MONTH
• ON THE PK N: A GAY SKIG TRIP TO FRANCE
• OLYMPIC SKIER G KENWORTHY ON G OUT AS GAY, TURNG PRO, AND HOW HE BALANC SPORTS, ACTG, AND ADVOCY
• 10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS
• SKI CHAMPN COM OUT AS GAY: ‘I’M READY TO BE HAPPY’

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league.

” (Photos by Kelsey Bnner for The Washgton Post)For one week a year, Telluri, Colo., hosts a celebratn of gay rights, drag and apr-skiTELLURIDE, Colo.

— As you drive to Telluri, Colo., late wter, you’re greeted by a banner readg “Telluri Gay Ski Week: Thanks for Comg Out, ” lettg you know om the moment you enter the town that you’re wele. The first gay ski week was hosted by Telluri’s fellow rort town of Aspen the 1970s by lols Jon Bch, David Hoch, Tom Duterberg and Rsell Anrson.

AN LGBTQ PARTY ON THE SLOP AT TELLURI GAY SKI WEEK

The group of lols would host parti for visg gay tourists ndos, bee beg openly gay was not wily accepted at this 1977, Bch got trouble for dancg wh another man at a bar, and spurred gay rights actns the town. SBG Productns, the anizer for this year’s event, timat about 2, 000 were attendance year, Telluri’s gay ski week had new events, cludg Gay Sleigh, a horse-drawn rriage ri, and a mounta drag race.

G Kenworthy, a retired profsnal etyle skier and Olympic silver medalist who grew up Telluri, said there have been tim where he feels as if he has “subsects of his life” as a profsnal athlete and also a gay man, but durg this week, he had another opportuny to marry the two.

After g out as gay an Instagram post 2020, Bank hop to show younger athlet “that they n be whomever they are, or want to be, whout discrimatn.

OLYMPIAN SAYS GAY MEN ARE WARDS, SO THERE AREN’T GAY MALE PRO SKIERS

Radford ma history as the first petive figure skater to e out as gay while still petg for champnship tl 2014, pavg the way for future LGBTQ+ athlet to e out.

ESTATE AGENT JAILED FOR VIC ATTACK ON TWO GAY MEN HOLDG HANDS

When I talk to iends about potentially attendg a Gay Ski Week this year, they still ask, “What is a Gay Ski Week?” Their qutns, to me, prove that the slope-si celebratns serve a functn as val and important as ever—to crease the visibily of LGBTQ+ people the historilly very macho, heteronormative world of wter sports. In those tim, the events were not much more than a sual get together over some après-ski beers, gay ski weeks over time veloped to more flhed-out happengs wh full-blown parti, drag shows, edy nights, live mic, and charable fundraisg ponents. Miguel Mendoza/ElevatnElevatn Ski Week: MammothMammoth, California, USA“It’s a whole vibe,” said Eric Bog, a skier om Los Angel who has attend Mammoth Gay Ski Week multiple tim.

“When you’re at Mammoth, you really feel like we’re takg over the whole village—there are rabow flags everywhere, people are havg fun, ’s great.” Put on by gay party productn pany Elevatn for over twenty years, Mammoth Gay Ski Week attracts a large Southern California ntgent ( part bee ’s pretty ted to get there om the East Coast). Karsten Wegeart/UnsplashAspen Gay Ski WeekAspen, Colorado, USAThe alpha and the omega of gay ski weeks, Aspen Gay Ski Week has been nng for over forty-five years, and grew out of those sual gathergs that began the 1970’s. Aspen Gay Ski Week is also the annual fundraisg event for AspenOUT, a non-prof muny anizatn that provis support and servic to LGBTQ+ people across the Aspen valley.Telluri Gay Ski WeekTelluri, Colorado, USAIf Aspen is the OG of gay ski weeks, then Telluri is the up-and-er.

And if you’re a fan of Olympic etyle skier and Telluri lol G Kenworthy, you may want to add this gay ski week to your erary—mor has he mak an unofficial appearance most years. Arosa Gay Ski WeekArosa, SwzerlandIf you aren’t faiar wh the idyllic Swiss village of Arosa, then get wh the program—while don’t offer the most thrillg terra relative to the rt of the Alps, ’s large enough to explore over multiple days, is easily nnected via tram to the neighborg village of Lenzerhei, and is easily accsed via a two-hour tra om the Zürich airport.

THE 10 BT GAY SKIG HOLIDAYS

Leo Mens/UnsplashGay Ski Week HakubaHakuba, JapanJapan’s legendary powr dumps and rich après-ski culture (onsen dip then steamg hot ramen, anyone?) are atop any skier’s bucket list. Ntled high the French Alps and wh over 1,000 participants each year, Europe’s largt gay ski week has bee somethg of an stutn—’s even sponsored by the gay datg app, Scff.

Après-ski ssns and eveng parti are a particular strength for this gay ski week, which attracts a roster of top ejays and drag queens to keep the party gog late to the night.Wter Pri QueenstownQueenstown, New ZealandSki season only to an end if you let . ” Which means, acrdg to Goggia, there n’t be gay male pro skiers, bee a gay man by his very nature is too much of a ward to throw himself down that urse. Callg gay men aaid to ski challengg urs is “discrimatory nature” addn to beg stupid and wrong, as this quote tweet said very well:.

Goggia’s ments, pecially about gay men, are about as dumb as any I’ve heard recently and serve to be both mocked and cricized.

HIG ROBERTS SAYS LIFE IS ‘GENTLER AND EASIER’ SCE G OUT AS GAY LAST MONTH

When G Kenworthy peted at the Sochi Olympics 2014 he was aaid that someone would fd out that he is gay -- fast-forward eight years and he is out and proud, as are dozens of other athlet at the Beijg Brish-Amerin etyle skier, who won silver for the Uned Stat Sochi the sloptyle petn, famoly kissed his boyiend Matt Wilkas live on televisn before his qualifyg n four years later at the Olympics Pyeongchang. “Hontly, means the world to me to get to pete here as an out proud gay man and to know that there are other out LGBTQ athlet that are here petg, ” he said. Kenworthy never thought he would see the day when he would be on the world stage as an out gay man and hop will reach the stage where stori such as his are no longer newsworthy.

ON THE PK N: A GAY SKIG TRIP TO FRANCE

He is now about to pete for Great Bra, the untry of his birth, his third and fal Olympics Beijg and Kenworthy will ski as a gay man, an LGBTQ+ activist and an most important facet of his transn is that, as Kenworthy says: “I’m jt much happier now than I was back then when I wasn’t livg my life thentilly.

And so, when I ask him to sum up his mood as a proudly gay athlete about to enter his fal Wter Olympics for a new untry, Kenworthy ps.

OLYMPIC SKIER G KENWORTHY ON G OUT AS GAY, TURNG PRO, AND HOW HE BALANC SPORTS, ACTG, AND ADVOCY

While some ski rorts ral regns still lack full LGBTQ+ acceptance, avid skiers or snowboarrs seekg a gay-iendly experience will be pleased to know that progrsive attus are on the up. As well as all the powred snow sports you uld dream of, gay snow holidays also enpass wilrns adventure, wild parti and plenty of après ski.

Aspen, Colorado, USAWe start our gui to the bt gay ski holidays Colorado, home to the southern portn of the Rocky Mountas, as well as the cy of Denver and largely liberal attus relative to the rt of the Wtern US stat.

10 GAY SKI WEEKS AND WTER PRI CELEBRATNS

Aspen gay scene is well tablished and the rort pris self on s long-standg liberal attu, wh the annual Aspen Gay Ski Week nng sce 1977.

Mammoth Mountas, California, USAContug on the all-Amerin theme, our send choice of gay ski statns tak to the Mammoth Mountas California. The state’s bt skig spot, Mammoth Ski Area lays claim as the origal home of ‘Elevatn Ski Week’, an annual event which has sce bee one of the largt gay ski events the US and the world over.

SKI CHAMPN COM OUT AS GAY: ‘I’M READY TO BE HAPPY’

One of the most gay-iendly ski rorts the Alps wh a rabow flag flyg all year round, Arosa cements s LGBTQ+ advote stat each January durg Arosa Gay Ski Week, when 600 lbian and gay wter sports fans une. Lenzerhei, SwzerlandHome of ‘GaySki’ sce s foundatn 1992, Lenzerhei is Arosa’s slightly olr , sharg the same breath-takg scenery and love of gay culture. In March 2020, Lenzerhei celebrat the 25th anniversary of SWING Gay Ski Week where pass holrs are guaranteed both snow and a packed schle of socialisg events.

In January every year durg the Whistler Pri & Ski Ftival, gay culture tak over wh each base offerg a mishmash of wild events, om fetish parti to dner parti wh dance events thrown . As well as beg the official European trag base of the US ski team, Söln is also a base for LGBT culture, wh the Söln Gay Snow Happeng brgg people together annually sce 1998 for ski events and lively Après-Ski activi (this year’s Happeng tak place March 2020). As well as skig and snowboardg on open terra, other activi clu ice skatg, snowmobilg and snowshoeg, topped off durg the month of Augt when the ternatnal LGBT muny scends for Gay Ski Week Queenstown at Cardrona Alpe Sebastian StaWhile you might envisage Spa as a hot and sweaty seasi suatn, the Spanish Pyrene will change your md wh wtery weather, northern-facg ski slop and perfect snow ndns Photo: Erik Odi8.

Boí Taüll’s Snow Gay Weekend, hosted by ‘Rabow Barcelona Tours’ is now s fifth year, acmodatg an ever-growg number of atten (currently around 200, mostly om Spa and France), for a week of timate ski events, parti and more, at an affordable price. Reprentg the open-mdns and diverse valu of the Canadian Rocki, the rort celebrat Jasper Pri Ftival annually March, anisg a rabow flag skig para and other gay-iendly events servg to nnect the rint queer muny, LGBT travellers and upl on the slop before unwdg Jasper’s lively bars and rtrants. European Snow Pri at Espace Killy, FranceThe cherry on top of our gay wter sundae is European Snow Pri, which tak place at Espace Killy the French Alps.