“I never “came out” in sport because I didn’t imagine it as a great secret & it had nothing to do with my skating or my dreams.”
Two-time Olympic winner Johnny Weir has revealed why he didn’t publicly come out as gay during his competitive days.
The 33-year-old competed during the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, and Canada, and didn’t confirm his sexuality until his 2011 memoir, Welcome to My World.
Since then, he has become an LGBTQ activist.
On Twitter, he praised out athletes such as Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon: “I am so thrilled that there are out representatives of the LGBTQ community competing at the Olympic Games. Notably, @guskenworthy & @Adaripp among others. It is very brave for all of us to live our truths whether on the global stage or in our own homes.
“Because of the attention on those athletes, many of you have written or tweeted because I am not referred to as “out” at either of my Olympics and in the traditional sense I wasn’t.
I am so thrilled that there are out representatives of the LGBTQ community competing at the Olympic Games. Notably, @guskenworthy ⛷ & @Adaripp ⛸ among others. It is very brave for all of us to live our truths whether on the global stage or in our own homes.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 18, 2018
Because of the attention on those athletes, many of you have written or tweeted because I am not referred to as “out” at either of my Olympics and in the traditional sense I wasn’t.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 18, 2018
I wear my sexuality the same as I wear my sex or my skin color. It is something that simply is and something I was born into. I never “came out” in sport because I didn’t imagine it as a great secret & it had nothing to do with my skating or my dreams.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 18, 2018
I was extremely lucky to grow up in a family/community of acceptance and perhaps that’s why I don’t see my sexuality as something that needs addressing. I am forever indebted however, to the warriors who came before me that allow me to lead the life I do so openly.
— Johnny Weir (@JohnnyGWeir) January 18, 2018
He continued: “I wear my sexuality the same as I wear my sex or my skin color. It is something that simply is and something I was born into. I never “came out” in sport because I didn’t imagine it as a great secret & it had nothing to do with my skating or my dreams.
“I was extremely lucky to grow up in a family/community of acceptance and perhaps that’s why I don’t see my sexuality as something that needs addressing. I am forever indebted however, to the warriors who came before me that allow me to lead the life I do so openly.”
Weir’s comments come after Olympic skater Adam Rippon became the first openly gay US man to qualify for the Winter Olympics.
Speaking to the BBC, Rippon said he would turn down an invitation from the White House: “I won’t go because I don’t think somebody like me would be welcome there. I know what it’s like to go into a room and feel like you’re not wanted there.
“Given this platform of being an Olympic athlete, I think it’s really important that we stand up for what we believe in, and we speak out against things that we think are wrong and unjust.”
Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy may also qualify this year but he won’t find out until later this month.
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