Well, here’s something that’s never happened before: Not one, not two, but three openly gay male athletes from the United States may be competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Related: Figure skater Adam Rippon says his booty is 100% real are here are the photos to prove it
Out luger John Fennell is one of the three currently vying for a spot at the Pyeongchang Games, along with out figure skater with the 100% real booty Adam Rippon and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who came out publicly after winning the silver medal in Sochi.
No openly gay man has ever competed for Team USA in a Winter Games before. And while the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio saw a record number of publicly out LGBTQ athletes (56 in total), only 11 of them were men, and none of them were from the United States.
Related: Olympic Athlete John Fennell Comes Out
In fact, the last time the U.S. sent an openly gay male athlete to the Summer Games was almost 15 years ago.
We’ll find out if Fennell makes the U.S. Olympic luge team tomorrow. But we’ll have to wait until January to hear about Rippon and Kenworthy. (Fingers crossed!)
Related: Gus Kenworthy and bf Matthew Wilkas let it all hang out on Fire Island
“For men, there’s always been this contradiction or stereotype that being gay means you’re not masculine, and only masculine people play sports,” our friend Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports, tells NBC News.
It looks like that stereotype is finally breaking down.
SiamSam
So if they weren’t smokin’ hot, Queerty wouldn’t bother covering them? Are all the writers here actually 14-year-old valley girls?
JaredMacBride
Bingo.
Bryguyf69
Er, if they’re not smokin’ hot, then the writer would simply leave out the second half of that title. Why are you trying to make an issue where they is none? Seriously, try reading the actual article. There is nothing about their appearances except an allusion to Rippon’s own comments about his booty. So you’re the one who is guilty of focusing on their appearances.
The bottom line is that Queerty is a bunch of blogs expressing the interests and tastes of its bloggers. It doesn’t pretend to be anything more. Instead of complaining, why don’t you start your own blog to fill what you consider deficits on Queerty?
Sam6969
I think sports requiring a lot of testosterone are usually more adapted to “active” gay men than passive ones. It may sound like a stereotype, but given the high level competition in such sports, passive gays may be less fitted to competition than straight and active gay men. It is just my opinion.
Dave in Northridge
Oh, c’mon. If you don’t know about Outsports.com, you maybe shouldn’t even comment here.
Bryguyf69
For an excellent very broad discussion on the topic, go to the NBC link below. It mentions a lot of things that surprised me. For example I didn’t realize that Gus Kenworthy had so many major corporate sponsors. That’s seen as a sign of broad mainstream acceptance. I also didn’t know that the Olympics had officially barred discrimination against LGB athletes. Trans and intersex athletes, however, are not included.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/winter-olympics-three-openly-gay-men-compete-spot-u-s-n826931
Bryguyf69
ADDENDUM
In my previous post, I mentioned that the IOC has officially barred discrimination against LGB, but not trans or intersex athletes. While discrimination should never be condoned, I can definitely see why some might want to bar trans and intersex participants. If, for example, you are anatomically male — with all the strength and endurance of a man — but mentally female, with which group do you compete? And how about FtoM athletes who might be taking testosterone, a banned substance? It’s a thorny subject. Indeed, the issue even applies to non-trans LGB athletes. Studies repeatedly show that gay men have anatomical and physiological features that differ from straight men, and many of these features resemble those in straight women. Older readers may remember LeVay’s landmark “gay hypothalamus” study where he found that the INAH-3 is largely missing in gay men — just like it is in straight women. Subsequent studies show other anatomical and physiological differences between gay and straight men, with gays often displaying similarities with straight women. For example, the way we process auditory signals.
Hall and Kimura made some fascinating findings on all sorts of features. Hall, for example, found that gays do indeed “throw like a girl” — specifically, straight women. Gays and straight women were better at fine movements (which may explain why gays excel in the arts?) while straight men and lesbians were better at gross movements. In other words, gays may be better at figure skating while straight men are better at throwing a ball. While generalizations, these findings do have an impact on athletic performance. How much of an impact is unknown.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/winter-olympics-three-openly-gay-men-compete-spot-u-s-n826931
Sam6969
Thanks for the references.
jockboy1986
Here is a naked John Fennell frolicking in the snow. Okay, he’s not completely naked but it’s as close as most of you will get to see.
https://www.thegayuk.com/this-is-one-way-to-cool-your-jets-john-fennell-jumps-into-snow-practically-naked/