In a recent interview with Time magazine, American freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy talks about coming out and how being in the closet during the last Olympics affected him.
Time magazine reports:
It was a feeling he says he never wanted to have again. “It made me realize I don’t want to be in the same situation in another Olympics,” he says. In October 2015, after winning a fifth straight Association of Freeskiing Professionals overall world title, Kenworthy came out publicly in ESPN the Magazine. Now, he is on track to become the first openly gay male athlete to ever compete at the Winter Games. The 2018 Winter Olympics begin Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Not surprisingly for someone who found success after speaking out, Kenworthy doesn’t bite his tongue. That’s rare for Olympians, who are counseled to steer clear of politics lest they offend viewers who see the Games as an escape or the corporate sponsors on which the athletes depend. But Kenworthy says he feels an obligation to push back against President Donald Trump over moves like his attempt to bar transgender people from serving in the military. “That is just a direct attack on the LGBT community,” Kenworthy says. “It shows more courage to leave the house as a trans person than Trump has ever had to show.”
Team USA members are traditionally invited to the White House after the Olympics. Kenworthy says he won’t accept an offer from the President. “I have no interest in faking support,” Kenworthy says. “I don’t want to go shake his hand.”
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