Champion on ice: Rudy Galindo, figure skating's Latino, LGBT pioneer

[Sylvia]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino...l-champion-latino-lgbt-figure-skating-n847166
Excerpts:

By turning pro, Galindo opted out of a shot at the Olympics, which he said was based, in part, on financial factors. “My family had sacrificed so much, and I wanted to be able to provide for them, and do wonderful things for them.”
The financial factor is one big reason, Galindo observed, that there are still few Latinos in the sport. “It is an expensive sport, with costs for training, travel, coaches, choreographers, ice time, and costumes,” he said. “I was lucky that my father gave up so much for me; I wish there were more Latino skaters because it would be really nice to see.”

Galindo still has a bond with his former skating partner, Kristi Yamaguchi. He choreographed special numbers for benefit performances for her Always Dream Foundation – and he is coaching her youngest daughter, Emma, 12, on the ice as well. “My daughter loves working with him, so it’s like our lives have come full circle,” she said. “In a way, he is like an extended family member.”
“I am very proud of him,” Yamaguchi added, “because he has never been afraid to be who he was. He has always been like, this is who I am, so why pretend?”

 

[livetoskate]

Great to see Rudy getting some more media attention. He's been through a lot of tough times. I am also glad that thanks to medical advances, he appears to be living well with HIV.

 

[Janbo]

Rudy will always be one of my favorite men.

 

[Twilight1]

1996 Nationals was amazing.

 

[MIsty Blades/Skate Mom]

This was one of my earliest memories of watching skating on TV. To this day, that is probably my favorite men's FS ever.

1996 Nationals was amazing.

 

[nimi]

There's another Rippon-inspired article called Adam Rippon, John Curry and figure skating's complex history with gay athletes in the Guardian that focuses on what John Curry went through, but it also features Rudy Galindo:

Like Curry, he had remained true to himself, regardless of how much it irritated others. “I was told by the authorities within my sport to skate in a certain masculine way,” he tells the Guardian. “My sometimes controversial costumes were hyper-analyzed by authorities in the sport. Because I was openly gay at a time when it was most definitely not politically correct, I felt as if I was constantly under the microscope. (...) I felt like an island in an open sea.”

In recent days he’s been immersed in Rippon and Radford’s successes and believes it’s a seismic time for the sport. “This is, most certainly, a defining period for figure skating and gay athletes,” Galindo said.

“I believe it’s truly a watershed moment and a long time coming, I might add. The contrast to when I was competing is like night and day. Unfortunately, being gay was taboo. But finally, there is vindication.