Two-time Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva says that, for him, stereotypes surrounding his sport may have been one of the biggest obstacles to his coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. I think basketball made me gay! Which sport did you play? Are you queer now?
There are several stories of elite gymnasts being called gay in the US by random people just for being in gymnastics. And a number of the national team are very open about their right wing politics. We aim to break boundaries, think outside of binaries and build bridges within our communities and beyond. Stay connected, and tell a friend. It was much more nerve-racking that way.
Here's a fact: In the entire history of the Olympics, there has never been an openly gay male gymnast. An Olympic gymnast hasn’t even come out after retiring. We've had a gay decathlete, runner. This page shares the results from Out on the Fields and OutSport , the first and second international research on homophobia and transphobia in sport. You will find statistics on gay athletes and trans athletes. This page also links to other high-quality studies to support researchers, LGBTQ leaders, media, and sports organizations understand and write about homophobia and transphobia.
Yet some sports, like gymnastics and figure skating, have been dubbed by our culture as “feminine” sports. The men in these sports are either largely assumed to be gay, or their sexuality is. This surpasses the record-setting Tokyo Olympics, held in the summer of , where there were at least out competitors. This year, a record 20 male athletes participating in the summer Olympics are publicly out. The vast majority of athletes on the list of queer Olympians, approximately , are women.
Two-time Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva says that, for him, stereotypes surrounding his sport may have been one of the biggest obstacles to his coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. .
Here's a fact: In the entire history of the Olympics, there has never been an openly gay male gymnast. An Olympic gymnast hasn’t even come out after retiring. We've had a gay. .
Tomás González, an Olympic gymnast from Santiago, Chile, has come out as gay in his newly-published autobiography titled Champion: Lessons, Triumphs, and Falls of an Olympic Gymnast. .
Women face the same issues, but in reverse: Ice hockey and softball players are assumed gay, figure skaters and gymnasts assumed straight. .