LGBTQ representation at the Winter Olympics
It has always been hard to reconcile my love of sports with my sexuality. Unlike theatre or music, professional sports have never really been bastions of representation for the LGBTQ community. In fact, sports have often been openly homophobic.
In the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, former Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw called a referee a “faggot” after receiving a penalty. Hearing a player on my hometown team in my favorite sport say that like it was nothing was beyond disheartening.
Instances like the one with Shaw demonstrate the type of hypermasculine culture that dominates men’s professional sports and contributes to the lack of out queer athletes in men’s sports. Both of these factors/aspects, as well as my own experiences of discrimination in sports have made me question my love for sports.
Then along came Adam and Gus.
Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy, a figure skater and a skier, respectively, are not the first out men to play at an Olympic Games, nor are they the first out LGBTQ people to play in the Winter Games. There were six openly LGBTQ women at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. However, they are two out gay men speaking about their sexuality openly in interviews, and that is of immense importance in and of itself.
Representation matters. For children, seeing someone who looks or acts like them can be inspiring and reaffirming. Although they are both traditionally attractive, white and cisgender, Rippon and Kenworthy represent something greater than themselves: the notion that LGBTQ people can be prominent in spaces in which we have historically been unwelcome. Adam Rippon even skated with Pride flags waving in the background of his program, letting people know that he wasn’t ashamed of his sexuality, like so many of us are made to be.
Both Rippon and Kenworthy are also speaking out against the anti-gay policies of the Trump administration, which is more necessary than ever. Rippon refused to meet with Vice President Pence, whose stance on LGBTQ rights is shaky at best, and both of them keep talking about their disgust with the administration. At a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack, speaking out about injustice throughout Trump’s presidency is admirable.
Too often, gay men are criticized by people outside the community for being “too feminine” or not interested in sports, and too often, within the LGBTQ community, there is division and animosity between traditionally masculine and feminine men.
Adam and Gus, to me, represent a start to the end of those divides. By providing a narrative of individuality for gay men in a world where we are so often placed into boxes, Rippon and Kenworthy are showing the world that there is more than just one way to live life as an LGBTQ person.
As both a gay man and an individual, Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are important to me. For too long, I’ve thought that my interest in sports was futile, that I would never be satisfied with the images of athletes on my TV screen and that I would never actually get to see two very important parts of my life come together. Adam and Gus are starting to change that. And I’m very grateful.
