At the recent world championships in Boston, fans waved both American and rainbow flags for Amber Glenn, the three-time U.S. champion who identifies as pansexual. Glenn, who came out publicly six years ago, said she was proud to see both flags flying in the crowd.
Glenn told the Associated Press she is grateful to have grown up in figure skating, which she described as a progressive safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. She noted that seeing other queer skaters and coaches at competitions helped her realise her identity was acceptable.
The sport has not always been so inclusive. In the past, skaters were often encouraged to conform to gender stereotypes. The turning point came in 1996 when Rudy Galindo came out in a book shortly before winning the U.S. title, inspiring others like Johnny Weir to come out in 2011.
In 2014, Olympic champion Brian Boitano came out as gay when chosen for the U.S. delegation to the Sochi Games, amid controversy over Russia's anti-gay propaganda law. More recently, Adam Rippon became the first openly gay man to win an Olympic medal in 2018, and Timothy LeDuc became the first non-binary Olympian in 2022.
