If there’s one online fundraiser you should support (and trust us there’s been one for everything from The Canyons to A Homosexual Sheep Car) it’s Blake Skjellerup’s campaign to get to the Sochi Olympics. The out speed skater has been gaining a lot of attention lately for his sexy photo shoots but, more importantly, speaking out against Russia’s anti-gay laws. The same place he hopes to compete in 2014.
Regardless of what he could potentially encounter in Russia, Skjellerup faces several major hurdles in his journey to get there. The major one being bankruptcy. He made this problem first known in the July issue of Gay Times. The athlete relies “quite heavily on my family to support” his competition and even though he has sought out sponsors he doesn’t have nearly enough “so at times it’s been quite difficult and I have to go without a lot of things.”
Recently, Skjellerup set up an Indiegogo account to raise additional funds in order to reach Sochi. With the help of fans around the world, Blake hopes to be the “first out gay male to ever compete in the Winter Olympics.” For as little as $10, you can be a pivotal part in him reaching his goals.
“Although I am an individual competing in an individual sport, I need a team behind me pushing me all the way, and without the support of these organizations and everyone else in the community, the journey would be a lot harder and a lonely one at that,” he tells Out.
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To check out and donate to his online campaign, click here. But do it soon. There are only 60 days left to support his Olympic dreams. Some of the rewards for your contributions include t-shirts and personal photos from Skjellerup. And knowing how hot he looks on film, that’s not a bad reward.
yaoming
“First out gay male to ever compete in the Winter Olympics”? Is that true?
MikeE
@yaoming: No.
Tackle
Queerty. The part about him being the first out gay male to ever compete in the Winter Olympics is not true. There has been a couple of out gay male figure skaters who have competed.
Richard
@Tackle
No! Don’t tell me!!! What an abomination!
Jonty Coppersmith
I can’t believe this website is asking folks to donate money to help this guy go to RUSSIA?
You actually want us to pay money to support their anti-gay laws. Unreal.
Larkin
@Tackle: Obviously tghey never heard of Johnny Weir… oh wait.. except for the many stories they published on him… 😛
But in fairness, it’s an unattributed quote. I tried to find it on his indiegogo page and it doesn’t exist, nor does it appear to exist in the video (which I may have missed, but I doubt it). I’d like to know exactly where the quote came from.
I also find it puzzling. He lives a life of grandeur compared to many people. He doesn’t have to work to support himself as his parents do that for him. He comes from a well-to-do upper middle-class family. These are simple facts. Yes, I know he ‘works’ in training daily, but that is simply not the same thing.
I could have been a contender in something if I had the financial backing of my family for years on end, but I had to work. One can get very good at something if they can spend all their time on it without worrying about the bills. Most of us do not have that luxury. Now I’m asked to support a relatively wealthy family and a skater? It seems like I’d be supporting Mitt Rmoney by donating to his dressage horse while he’s taking a $76k tax deduction for having a hobby horse. There should be no deductions for your hobby horse mitt.
I won’t begrudge him for asking for help, but I will begrudge that when I needed help for college tuition, it wasn’t there and never would have been.
Ever notice how many competitors come from rich families? There’s a reason for that and I am not inclined to support him financially when he wouldn’t do the same in reverse.
I know I’ll get flack for this sentiment, but the rest of us work for what we have.. and Blake hasn’t worked a day in his life for a paycheck.
Some of you want to support this because you want to see a gay winner. I’m not at all sure support should be given to the well-off.
2eo
@Jonty Coppersmith: Queerty’s lead site Gaycities is sponsored by Sochi Vodka, a Russian owned vodka company so that means Russian money is literally running the show here too. There were a series of articles over the past few weeks by the mysterious “Editors” about why boycotts don’t work and why we shouldn’t boycott.
The reason for “Editors” is not one person on the Queerty staff had the testicles to put their name to it, no other reason.
Larkin
@Larkin: Correcting myself. Johnny wasn’t ‘out’ for the 2010 Olympics. LOLZ.
sportsguy1983
I’ll save my money for someone who has a legitimate shot at a good result at the Olympics.
Jonty Coppersmith
@2eo:
Thank you for pointing this out. I’m wondering how I was unaware of this. So for Queerty/Gaycities money in their pocket is more important than standing up for what is right? Now I’m feeling guilty for even coming here. I need to think about this a little more.
Tackle
@Larkin: Funny that you mentioned Johnny Weir. But the two I was referring to was way before Johnny. BTW, you make some valid points. Now after reading the article in OUT online, I’m a bit confused. According to that interview, Blake has to finished in the top 32 at the World Cup this Autumn in order to qualify and be at the Sochi Olympics. . Ok, shouldn’t it be one step at a time. First things first. And that’s the World Cup. Right? Why is there a financial Olympic campaign right now? And if Blake has received thousand upon thousands of dollars for the Olympics and does not make the top 32 at the World Cup, what happens to the donated money? . And I understand that Blake’s financial woes has something to do with him having to file for bankruptcy and credit card debt. And I don’t understand why the NZ government step in and help finance one of their promising athletes?
yaletownman
I know this guy appears to be an exception but so many athletes aren’t about human rights. They would do their thing atop the Killing Fields if that’s what it took to move their careers forward. Their self centered narcissism has made the thoughts of watching them so nauseating that I don’t even need to boycott them. A great many of them might be great athletes but few of them appear to be great human beings.