Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff has come out gay.
The 20-year-old Winter Olympics hopeful told Australia's ABC TV
that she was coming out to take a stand for gay and lesbian athletes
competing next year in Sochi, Russia, where a recently approved “gay
propaganda” law prohibits the positive portrayal of gays in a venue
where minors might be present.
“I want to be proud of who I am and be proud of all the work
I've done to get into the Olympics,” Brockhoff said.
She said that the law scared her.
“I have a feeling that I would have to kinda go back into the
closet a little bit because I don't want to risk my, like, you know,
safety, being arrested or deported. I want to be able to compete and
live my dream and become an Olympian. That's always what I've wanted
to do,” Brockhoff
said.
Brockhoff's announcement came a day after actor-screenwriter
Wentworth Miller came out gay in the course of declining an
invitation to attend a film festival in Russia due to the anti-gay
law.
(Related: Wentworth
Miller comes out: Ellen DeGeneres, Rose McGowan, Matt Bomer offer
support.)