While it’s going to be hard to beat the Summer Olympic medal haul from LGBTQ athletes, the winter games won’t be dismissed outright. Here’s who is going to be Out at the 2022 Winter Olympics! Right now, we only have 7 but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for more.
Team USA
Of the 7 out athletes currently preparing to compete 3 of these courageous athletes hail from the USA. In alphabetical order we have:
Jason Brown is a figure skater from Highland Park, Illinois. He had already racked up multiple junior medals before becoming a 9-time Grand Prix medalist and taking home 2 Four Continent medals. Additionally, he won a bronze medal in the team event at the 2014 Winter Olympics making him one of the youngest medal earners ever! Jason came out last year as a part of pride month in a beautiful Instagram post.
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Amber Glenn, who is also a figure skater, comes to us by way of Plano Texas. In her resume are multiple Junior Grand Prix wins as well as being last year’s US National silver medalist. Amber identifies as pansexual as well as bisexual. She came out during an interview with the Dallas Voice.
“The fear of not being accepted is a huge struggle for me,” she says. “Being perceived as [going through] ‘just a phase’ or [being] ‘indecisive’ is a common thing for bisexual/pansexual women. I don’t want to shove my sexuality in people’s faces, but I also don’t want to hide who I am,” she said in the interview.
And lastly but not least, we have Timothy LeDuc. Timothy, who identifies as bisexual and nonbinary is set to be the first out, gender non-conforming, athlete at the Olympics. Ever. Their story is heartbreaking and hopeful. Despite being amazing on the ice, racking up multiple medals and awards, there were skaters who saw their queerness as a liability. Some refused to skate with them at all.
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Luckily for us, Timothy found the perfect partner in Ashley Cain-Gribble. Watch out for the two of them and their unconventional style. We salute them and the rest of the athletes out at the 2022 Winter Olympics.