Out U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, who this week became the first openly gay man to qualify for the U.S. Olympics, told the BBC in a new interview that he wouldn’t feel welcome at the White House.
“I don’t think somebody like me would be welcome there,” said Rippon, 28. “I know what it’s like to go into a room and feel like you’re not wanted.”
Rippon added that he’s not afraid to speak his mind: “I think it’s important that we stand up for what we believe in and we speak out against thinks that we think are wrong and unjust.”
He added: “If I talked to people the way that President Trump talks to people my mom would kick my ass.”
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Said Rippon to reporters last week: “A few weeks ago, I was asked in an interview – and I tweeted about it – that they asked me, what was it like being a gay athlete in sports? And I said, it’s exactly like being a straight athlete, only with better eyebrows…Growing up, I really didn’t have a lot of role models. And I said, if I was ever given the chance and the platform, I would share my story….Because I don’t really care what other people think of me. I’m able to go out there and I’m really able to be, like, unabashedly myself. And I want somebody who’s young, who’s struggling, who’s not sure if it’s OK if they are themselves to know that it’s OK.”
Out gay luger John Fennell saw his Olympic hopes dashed in a freak accident in his World Cup qualifying run in mid-December.
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