LGBTQ+ in figure skating

Sylvia

Sylvia

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Timothy LeDuc was featured in this NBC article that was publshed before 2022 U.S. Nationals:
www.nbcnews.com

American figure skater could become 1st out nonbinary Winter Olympian

Timothy LeDuc and their partner, Ashley Cain-Gribble, are challenging figure skating’s traditional gender stereotypes.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
He They now, officially, will be "the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics":
www.cnn.com

Timothy LeDuc is set to become the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics | CNN

American figure skater Timothy LeDuc is set to become the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at an Olympic Winter Games.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

OutSports article on Lewis Gibson who "talks for the first time about being gay and married, on eve of the Olympics" (Jan. 26):

Lewis Gibson talks for the first time about being gay and married, on eve of the Olympics - Outsports

Lewis Gibson and ice dancing partner Lilah Fear will represent Team Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics.
www.outsports.com www.outsports.com
 
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Sylvia

Sylvia

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New TeamUSA.org athlete feature article on Ashley Cain-Gribble/Timothy LeDuc, published Jan. 27: https://www.teamusa.org/News/2022/J...-And-LeDuc-Creating-The-Space-To-Be-Different
LeDuc:
“I’ve always felt that I didn’t quite align perfectly with the expectations that were put on me,” they said. “Masculinity always felt forced, it always felt like something I had to do to feel safe, something I had to do to be successful or to be taken seriously. It was never authentic to me. … I feel so much more whole now, identifying outside of manhood.”
Since coming out as nonbinary, LeDuc contends with comments ranging from benign, if uneducated — “If you’re nonbinary, why do you wear a beard?” — to downright vicious.
“Gender and sex are different things, and gender expression is different from gender,” they said. “Gender is more of an internal sense of self — man, woman, both or neither. Gender expression can be an extension of that, but it doesn’t always have to be. Yes, I have a beard, but in competition I wear make-up. I can portray parts of masculinity and manhood, but I also feel a connection to femininity. It’s a process of letting that out and letting people see that.”
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Team USA lists their 2022 Winter Olympic team size total as "223 (108 women, 114 men and one nonbinary athlete)".
 
SkateFanBerlin

SkateFanBerlin

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After iiving 15 years in Europe I can definitely see a difference in how men describe themselves vs the US. Men here would say they were friendly, bookish, sportiv, hard-working, fun-loving, etc. The concept of manliness wouldn't come up. And, I'm including straight guys. There's not usually that stand offish quality guys in the US have. You'll get a hug, or in France a peck from just about anybody. (It's actually messed up my gaydar). I think it's great that US guys are starting to question this fixation on masculinity.
 
I

Icetalavista

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US guys have that whole 'rugged individualist', frontiersman, cowboy trope to compare themselves against. The belief that 'every person for themselves against the world' is definitely part of the US make-up that needs to be consciously addressed.
 
VGThuy

VGThuy

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SkateFanBerlin said:
After iiving 15 years in Europe I can definitely see a difference in how men describe themselves vs the US. Men here would say they were friendly, bookish, sportiv, hard-working, fun-loving, etc. The concept of manliness wouldn't come up. And, I'm including straight guys. There's not usually that stand offish quality guys in the US have. You'll get a hug, or in France a peck from just about anybody. (It's actually messed up my gaydar). I think it's great that US guys are starting to question this fixation on masculinity.
Click to expand...
I heard men in England and Japan are similar in terms of being reserved and not expressing themselves because men are perceived not to do such things. Vietnamese men also have a machismo thing.
 
T

tony

Throwing the (rule)book at them
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SkateFanBerlin said:
After iiving 15 years in Europe I can definitely see a difference in how men describe themselves vs the US. Men here would say they were friendly, bookish, sportiv, hard-working, fun-loving, etc. The concept of manliness wouldn't come up. And, I'm including straight guys. There's not usually that stand offish quality guys in the US have. You'll get a hug, or in France a peck from just about anybody. (It's actually messed up my gaydar). I think it's great that US guys are starting to question this fixation on masculinity.
Click to expand...
There are many LGBTQ (and even non-LGBTQ) that have been long-fighting against this idea of 'masculinity' and 'masc only' that even takes over the gay world sometimes because as kids, they had to always hide their feelings and expressions and acting a certain kind of way still holds up in their minds. But there are plenty of ignorant people that still assume having a beard or going to the gym or having tattoos means they are trying to be "masculine" :lol: -- and those are just very general things. I've seen comments on this board that follow the same pattern, including people who will write paragraphs and paragraphs about supporting gay rights and then turn around and talk about all 'men' being the same. And every single time, the same group of people is there to like said comments and/or defend said poster(s).

Thankfully, younger generations seem to be much more open to people being who they want to be and what they feeling comfortable doing.
 
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VGThuy

VGThuy

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tony said:
There are many LGBTQ (and even non-LGBTQ) that have been long-fighting against this idea of 'masculinity' and 'masc only' that even takes over the gay world sometimes because as kids, they had to always hide their feelings and expressions and acting a certain kind of way still holds up in their minds. But there are plenty of ignorant people that still assume having a beard or going to the gym are them being or trying to be "masculine" :lol: -- and those are just very general things. I've seen comments on this board that follow the same pattern, including people who will write paragraphs and paragraphs about supporting gay rights and then turn around and talk about all 'men' being the same. And every single time, the same group of people is there to like said comments and/or defend said poster(s).

Thankfully, younger generations seem to be much more open to people being who they want to be and what they feeling comfortable doing.
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I'm trying to think of an example of this. Would you mind providing one so I can be on the look out for it?
 
AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

Get it Amber 😝
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SkateFanBerlin said:
After iiving 15 years in Europe I can definitely see a difference in how men describe themselves vs the US. Men here would say they were friendly, bookish, sportiv, hard-working, fun-loving, etc. The concept of manliness wouldn't come up. And, I'm including straight guys. There's not usually that stand offish quality guys in the US have. You'll get a hug, or in France a peck from just about anybody. (It's actually messed up my gaydar). I think it's great that US guys are starting to question this fixation on masculinity.
Click to expand...

You are in Berlin correct? That’s one of my favorite cities and my best friend just moved there 2 1/2 weeks ago for a new job. I miss him a lot
 
SkateFanBerlin

SkateFanBerlin

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AngieNikodinovLove said:
You are in Berlin correct? That’s one of my favorite cities and my best friend just moved there 2 1/2 weeks ago for a new job. I miss him a lot
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Yes, in Berlin. Funny I got a messaage, maybe here, maybe FB from a skate fan moving to Berlin.. She(?) wanted to connect. I wonder if it's your friend
 
AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

Get it Amber 😝
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14,190
There are 8 out gay male skaters at the Olympics. In 2014, there were 0.

There are 8 out gay male skaters at the Olympics. In 2014, there were 0. - Outsports

The out skaters feel comfortable within their sport and also want to inspire others.
www.outsports.com www.outsports.com

When the Winter Olympics figure skating competition starts in Beijing, there will be a record eight out gay men in either singles, pairs or dance. The number was zero in 2014 and three in 2018.

I did NOT know Ambrosini was out! Congratulations to him!!!!
 
Sylvia

Sylvia

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BlueRidge

BlueRidge

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Orm Irian said:
Here's a fantastic article on Kaitlyn Weaver, performing as a queer woman in ice dance, and coming out from The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...as-so-much-more-to-me-than-i-was-able-to-show
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I was just coming to see if this had been posted yet! What a great interview. I love Kaitlyn.

Its so moving reading her talk about struggling with things all those years I loved her skating, she was going thru things I'd gone through in some ways too years before.
 
GooserBuzz

GooserBuzz

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VGThuy said:
I heard men in England and Japan are similar in terms of being reserved and not expressing themselves because men are perceived not to do such things. Vietnamese men also have a machismo thing.
Click to expand...

I am sorry, what is "machismo"?
 
Amy L

Amy L

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AngieNikodinovLove said:

Donovan Carrillo skates the same way he has handled ‘gay’ teasing: with a big smile - Outsports

Carrillo has talked about being called ‘gay’ (he’s not), and he couldn’t have handled it with more grace.
www.outsports.com www.outsports.com

I forgot Donovan was out, was Donovan mentioned in the eight out gay male athletes and figure skating? I don’t think he was that would be nine then
Click to expand...

That entire article is about how he is not gay, but supportive of the community.
 
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