LGBTQ+ in figure skating

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

June has been such a great month in LGBTQ + figure skating news and now another figure skater coming out I think maybe it would be cool to see its own thread

For champion skater Christopher Caluza, coming out as gay was a worthwhile journey

For champion skater Christopher Caluza, coming out as gay was a worthwhile journey - Outsports

Christopher Caluza struggled for years with his sexuality but slowly he realized that embracing who he was made him a better skater and person.

www.outsports.com

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Looking at the Grand Prix grids for this coming season it’s an amazing seven skaters I can identify as of today that are publicly out as LGBTQ+. So amazing and what change from just a few years ago!

Amber Glenn, Timothy LeDuc, Paul Poirier, Jason Brown, Eric Radford, Kevin Aymoz, Guillame Cizeron

Puts a smile on me

 

[Sylvia]

Kaitlyn Weaver will be the guest on SkateProud's Instagram Live tomorrow - Thursday, July 1 at 12 noon Eastern time:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQquWmsL082/

Link to SkateProud's YouTube channel with many conversations conducted last summer with LGBTQ+ figure skaters and their allies (Javier Raya moderated the majority of them; Karina Manta and Chris Caluza also hosted):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbXvdVPOilL78jGaZZ_5szg/videos

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Looking at the Grand Prix grids for this coming season it’s an amazing seven skaters I can identify as of today that are publicly out as LGBTQ+. So amazing and what change from just a few years ago!

Amber Glenn, Timothy LeDuc, Paul Poirier, Jason Brown, Eric Radford, Kevin Aymoz, Guillame Cizeron

Puts a smile on me

He's another reason I want to go to SkCan! I really couldn't stand his previous partner, but Eric partnered now with Vanessa James?!?!?! I am soooo there!

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Kaitlyn Weaver will be the guest on SkateProud's Instagram Live tomorrow - Thursday, July 1 at 12 noon Eastern time:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQquWmsL082/

Link to SkateProud's YouTube channel with many conversations conducted last summer with LGBTQ+ figure skaters and their allies (Javier Raya moderated the majority of them; Karina Manta and Chris Caluza also hosted):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbXvdVPOilL78jGaZZ_5szg/videos

Thank you!

 

[Sylvia]

SkateProud's IG Live chat between Javier Raya & Kaitlyn earlier today (24 mins.): https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQypftUq6Gs/

Links to the 3 threads started in GSD on June 11, 2021:

Kaitlyn:

Kaitlyn Weaver hopes her coming out story finally breaks figure skating's female archetype

CBC Sports article by Devin Heroux: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figureskating/kaitlyn-weaver-hopes-her-coming-out-story-finally-breaks-figure-skating-s-female-archetype-1.6061918 But now, two years after leaving competitive figure skating, Weaver is tired of doing the dance and...

www.fsuniverse.net

Paul:

Paul Poirier on Pride, Progress, and the Next Generation of Queer Athletes

Paul deserves his own news thread in GSD! :) Thanks for sharing this interview link, @Sparks, as well as @Colonel Green and @firstflight in other threads. ... Paul Poirier! :cheer: https://glory.media/paul-poirier-on-pride-progress-and-the-next-generation-of-queer-athletes/ Excerpt: GLORY...

www.fsuniverse.net

Jason:

Jason Brown: "I believe that love will always win, and every story will unfold differently for each individual..."

Shared on his social media just now (❤️): https://www.instagram.com/p/CP_stVqHtzb/ https://twitter.com/jasonbskates/status/1403466946708967428 🏳️‍🌈 #pridemonth • • • I’ve grown up surrounded by beautiful, creative, strong, proud, successful, and supportive LGBTQ+ role models. Whether it be...

www.fsuniverse.net

All 3 of them spoke with Nick McCarvel for the Olympic Channel's podcast (copying over what I posted in their GSD thread yesterday):

Pride month: Olympic figure skaters Brown, Weaver, Poirier share coming out stories

Jason Brown, Kaitlyn Weaver and Paul Poirier each came out publicly in separate posts on 11 June 2021.

olympics.com

The posts appeared within hours of one another, but there was no coordination among them.
On 11 June 2021, Olympic figure skaters Jason Brown, Kaitlyn Weaver and Paul Poirier each took to social media to share their own public coming out messages - a day that was met with celebration by many in the sport, as well as within the LGBTQ+ community. [...]
This week, the trio features on the Olympics podcast, where they discuss their personal journeys, the challenges they've faced, and what needs to change within the sport of figure skating to make it more encouraging and accepting for all.

Direct link to listen to their 30-minute chat: https://olympics.com/en/podcast/podcast-jason-brown-kaitlyn-weaver-paul-poirier-pride

The LGBTQ+ community officially welcomed three Olympic figure skaters when they came out on June 11, 2021. Jason Brown, Kaitlyn Weaver, and Paul Poirier joined Nick McCarvel to talk about why they chose this moment to share, why they feel it's more important than ever to do so, and provide insight into the support and challenges around coming out while involved in elite figure skating.

 

[Finnice]

Maybe a bit to this, the synchro team Dream Edges from Kaarina, Finland, have announced that their FS this season will be about love between two women. They say synchro can do something that the other FS disciplines can not.

 

[Sylvia]

I came across a handy link on U.S. Figure Skating's Fan Zone website to their Pride Month 2021 compilation page with links to Eliot Halverson's IG Live conversations in June (with judge Jaclyn Ward Helms, LeDuc, Glenn, Rippon), feature stories, and educational resources:

Pride Month - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

U.S. Figure Skating is amplifying skating voices during Pride Month by having meaningful conversations and sharing the stories of our family at the rink. Below you

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

I had posted some of the links in the Skaters worldwide unite to promote diversity in figure skating thread in GSD, including this article from March 2021:

USFS' Skater Spotlight article by Jillian L. Martinez on Eliot Halverson who is transgender non-binary (she/her):

Eliot Halverson challenges the gender norms of figure skating | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

Halverson still skates beautifully and coaches at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers in NYC: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKoxr4snSOu/

(Halverson also coaches Jackie Wong of RockerSkating who's out and proud.)

 

[Sylvia]

The Ice Skating Podcast from the ISU (listen here): https://www.isu.org/media-centre/libraries/podcast

Pride Month Special – Part 1, with Guillaume Cizeron, Brittany Bowe, and Blake Skjellerup

Welcome to the first of two editions of The Ice Skating Podcast celebrating Pride month.
Held in June each year to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, Pride month usually means, without the threat of Covid, parades and marches dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world.
Join French Figure Skater Guillaume Cizeron, US Speed Skater Brittany Bowe, and New Zealand’s former Short Track Speed Skater Blake Skjellerup as they share their personal experiences as LGBTQ+ athletes.

Pride Month Special – Part 2, with Rachel Parsons, Guillaume Cizeron, Brittany Bowe, and Milk

Welcome to the second packed edition of The Ice Skating Podcast celebrating Pride month and sharing the stories of several LGBTQ+ athletes.
French Figure Skater Guillaume Cizeron and US Speed Skater Brittany Bowe return for this episode, and this time they’re joined by the high-profile drag queen and former Figure Skater, Milk.
Another former Figure Skater, the USA’s one-time Junior World Champion Rachel Parsons, shares her story too.

ISU's latest interview feature Rachel Parsons: Living her best life after learning to love skating again (July 5, 2021): https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...arning-to-love-skating-again?templateParam=15

 

[Sylvia]

Kaitlyn Weaver had an IG Live with Oksana Baiul yesterday and LGBTQ+ allyship was one of the topics that was discussed: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CR13KXLKphs/

 

[tony]

Kaitlyn Weaver had an IG Live with Oksana Baiul yesterday and LGBTQ+ allyship was one of the topics that was discussed: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CR13KXLKphs/

So glad she did this; it's really refreshing to hear her speak about the community.

 

[Andrea82]

Looking at the Grand Prix grids for this coming season it’s an amazing seven skaters I can identify as of today that are publicly out as LGBTQ+. So amazing and what change from just a few years ago!

Amber Glenn, Timothy LeDuc, Paul Poirier, Jason Brown, Eric Radford, Kevin Aymoz, Guillame Cizeron

Puts a smile on me

there is also Lewis Gibson in Ice Dance and Filippo Ambrosini in Pairs.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

there is also Lewis Gibson in Ice Dance and Filippo Ambrosini in Pairs.

Lewis is out? Good to know. Ambrosini as well.

 

[Sylvia]

2019 U.S. Junior Men's champ & CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy senior bronze medalist/5-time JGP competitor Ryan Dunk's 21st birthday is today (Oct. 14) and he decided to come out publically via social media : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVBnTt7LW-x/

Turned 21 today and felt kinda cute all grown up BUT!!! more importantly, I want to tell you all that I am gay! Most of my close friends already know this about me, but I wanted to make it official today as a little bday present to myself … also, I feel that I am finally reaching the point where I can say I am proud of the person I’m becoming and feel comfortable in my own skin (which has not always been the case). I am so grateful for all of the individuals who have fought for gay people to have our rights - I would not be able to live as myself today if it weren’t for them. ALSO - thank you to my family for always showing me unconditional love. I love you so, so much … anyways, don’t wanna get too sappy, so on that note, with peace and love -> just always remember that it’s Britney bitch xx

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

2019 U.S. Junior Men's champ & CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy senior bronze medalist/5-time JGP competitor Ryan Dunk's 21st birthday is today (Oct. 14) and he decided to come out publically via social media : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVBnTt7LW-x/

Sylvia I had my eye on his skating a few years ago. When did he retire and why?

 

[Sylvia]

When did he retire and why?

Ryan Dunk hasn't retired - he competed in several competitions this summer (won the U.S. Collegiate Championships senior title representing Suffolk University; ETA scored 199.46 at the Boston Open earlier this month) and I'm pretty sure he has entered the U.S. qualifying season (Championship Series thread in the Kiss & Cry section).

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Karina Manta’s new book, On Top of Glass, shares stories of her skating life and teenage girlhood​

Karina Manta’s new book, On Top of Glass, shares stories of her skating life and teenage girlhood - Outsports

Manta is out in figure skating and sharing her stories and insights in her new book.

www.outsports.com

Manta is out in figure skating and sharing her stories and insights in her new book.

 

[Sylvia]

Karina Manta is answering questions via her latest IG stories & has a "Bedazzled Book Giveaway" that ends today: https://www.instagram.com/karinamanta/

 

[annie720]

2019 U.S. Junior Men's champ & CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy senior bronze medalist/5-time JGP competitor Ryan Dunk's 21st birthday is today (Oct. 14) and he decided to come out publically via social media : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVBnTt7LW-x/

It's good to hear news about Ryan! I was a fan of his when I lived in MD and he trained there. Happy everything, Ryan! I wish you well!

 

[PeterG]

Kevin Aymoz

I didn't know Kevin was out.

 

[antmanb]

I didn't know Kevin was out.

I missed it too.

Apparently he and five other French athletes came out in a documentary. English article: https://www.outsports.com/olympics/2021/6/21/22543207/french-lgbtq-athletes-coming-out-olympics

And a French article linked to in the one above: https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/q...xualite-dans-un-documentaire-de-canal-7310487

 

[Sylvia]

I didn't know Kevin was out.

Aymoz came out in June and the news was first posted in his fan thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/kévin-aymoz-fan-thread.106000/page-3#post-6012695

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

More: Skater Karina Manta on Coming Out, Mental Health in On Top of Glass

Skater Karina Manta on Coming Out, Mental Health in 'On Top of Glass'

The American ice dancer captures a turning point in figure skating with her new memoir.

www.advocate.com

 

[Sylvia]

Link to watch Karina Manta's Oct. 19th Instagram Live Book Launch chat with her longtime pal Jason Brown ("... before we both adopted shorter haircuts, before we were both iconically known to be LGBTQs…we were prom dates!"): https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVOy1_HlJos/

 

[Sylvia]

Glad to see Rachel (now Rae Marie) Parsons happy in her personal life : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVRIKsOpUhT/

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Glad to see Rachel (now Rae Marie) Parsons happy in her personal life : https://www.instagram.com/p/CVRIKsOpUhT/

Oh wow, glad to hear about her again. So she is identifying as LGBTQ+?

⛸

 

[Jay42]

Oh wow, glad to hear about her again. So she is identifying as LGBTQ+?

⛸

She came out as bisexual shortly after retiring.

 

[maatTheViking]

Lots of people passing out/bringing rainbow flags at SKAM women’s warmup for Glenn’s group

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Lots of people passing out/bringing rainbow flags at SKAM women’s warmup for Glenn’s group

Awesome, I also saw a gay flag in the arena up by some of the other banners like around Nathan Chen and those banners

 

[MacMadame]

Lots of people passing out/bringing rainbow flags at SKAM women’s warmup for Glenn’s group

Hey, no one gave me one! I would have waved it!