Olympic figure skaters Jason Brown,
Kaitlyn Weaver, and Paul Poirier have come out as LGBTQ.
American figure skater Jason Brown, who
won a bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics, announced he's gay in a
Pride message.
“History hasn’t always been kind in
the fight for equality, and acceptance is an ongoing one,” Brown
said in a post on social media. “There is no doubt that my life’s
been enhanced because of the people around me who had the courage to
stand up and share a piece of who they are with the world and for
that I say thank you.”
“I believe that love will always win
and every story will unfold differently for each individual. Mine
unfolds a bit now. I’m gay, and that’s a story still being
written...,” the 26-year-old said.
Brown's
post included a #PrideMonth hashtag.
Poirier, who competed for Canada with
ice dance partner Piper Gilles at the 2018 Olympics, came out in an
interview.
“[Being a gay athlete] hasn’t been
something that I’ve really talked about very much, especially in a
public setting,” Poirier,
29, told Glory
magazine. “I’ve had this attitude that my private life is my
private life and my life outside of skating is my life outside of
skating.”
“This Pride Month is a really good
opportunity to share a bit more about my story, how my sexuality has
made me the person and the athlete that I am today, and also perhaps
be a role model for so many young queer athletes who are growing up
and not really sure how to navigate that as they go through the world
of sport,” he added.
In an interview with the CBC, Kaitlyn
Weaver, 32, said that the COVID-19 pandemic was behind her decision
to come out as queer.
“I’ve reached the point of not
wanting to pretend anymore. It really weighed on my mental health to
hide consistently a part of who I am,” Weaver
said. “I feel like it’s the right time in my life to share
that I identify as a queer woman.
“I feel like I need to step up
because I know there are a lot of young girls and people in sport who
are afraid to share who they are,” added Weaver, who competed for
Canada in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics with skating partner Andrew
Poje.
Brown and Poirier, with partner Gilles,
are training to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing,
China.