Five-time British champion gymnast Luke Strong came out as bisexual this week, telling the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast, “I’ve never hidden anything and I’m really open about the fact that I’m attracted to both sexes, male and female, but I’ve never been in a relationship with either of them so I don’t know.”
Added Strong, 27, who specializes in trampoline: “I think like most people in the LGBTQ community, growing up is always a little bit difficult. Especially wearing a leotard, doing gymnastics, doing the splits… You get the typical ‘you’re a fairy’ and the gay jokes. I had that growing up in school and then especially in high school it got a lot worse. There was a period of time in year eight and nine where the bullying was bad. I wouldn’t really talk about trampolining because I was embarrassed.”
Strong said he first expressed his sexual orientation to a coach a few years ago, but has never come out in a public interview until now: “I remember just crying [when I spoke to the coach] and I didn’t really know why. That was the first person I really expressed my sexuality to.”
Outsports adds: “Strong, who has had several bad injuries in the past and is now recovering from an ankle injury, is itching to get back to competition. He just missed making the British Olympic team in 2012 and was a reserve on the 2016 team.”
