Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy thanks the Human Rights Campaign in this newly-posted video today.
“I am a huge supporter of the Human Rights Campaign because they’re a huge supporter of me.
“It’s been an incredible Olympics. We’ve seen so much change and so much progress and so much visibility for the LGBT community and that’s been incredible. And I don’t think we’d be anywhere near where we are without all the hard work the Human Rights Campaign has done.
“You guys have changed lives, you’ve saved lives, and I cannot thank you enough so from the bottom of my heart, thank you HRC.”
Please note Gus’ low-profile trolling of Donald Trump via his choice of hat 😉
• In case you missed it, Jim Newman definitely wished you all a Happy Valentine’s Day (above)
• Melonie Diaz has been cast as the first magical sister in the Charmed CW reboot. She’ll play “Mel,” the time freezing lesbian sister of the trio of witches featured on the show.
• American voters overwhelmingly support allowing undocumented children brought to the U.S. as children, so-called “Dreamers,” to remain and eventually apply for citizenship by 80%-16%.
• Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy says he’d like to explore acting as his next chapter and Wes Anderson would be his dream pick as director. Hey, Wes…
Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy is one tough competitor
Gus Kenworthy post #2:
US freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy missed out on a second Olympic medal this time around in part due to injuries (a broken thumb and massive hematoma) that proved detrimental to his final runs in the Slopestyle competition this past weekend.
Gus shared a pic of the enormous bruise today giving you an idea of just how tough he is and yet still managed to throw down with the best of the best freestyle skiers in PyeongChang.
He even threw in a Call Me By Your Name reference along the way 🙂
A peach hasn’t been this destroyed since Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name.🍑 pic.twitter.com/GSpdjZGox2
Out U.S. Winter Olympian Gus Kenworthy has little patience for online trolls.
As Kenworthy celebrated his now-famous Olympic kiss with bf Matthew Wilkas, a Twitter user (with the same name as a Trump lawyer) chimed in with an ugly comment.
The troll asked: “Question is, if men marry men and women marry women who will produce children in this world”
Kenworthy destroyed the hater with three simple words:
“Hopefully not you.”
#Boom
Didn’t realize this moment was being filmed yesterday but I’m so happy that it was. My childhood self would never have dreamed of seeing a gay kiss on TV at the Olympics but for the first time ever a kid watching at home CAN! Love is love is love. pic.twitter.com/8t0zHjgDg8
Gus Kenworthy kisses his bf Matthew Wilkas at 2018 Winter Olympics
When Gus Kenworthy came out in 2015, he told ESPN Magazine that he felt like a “coward” in not acknowledging his boyfriend during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
Well, what a difference 4 years and a shattered closet door makes.
Before yesterday’s qualifying runs in the slopestyle competition, Kenworthy gave his boyfriend Matthew Wilkas a kiss that was captured by the NBC Sports cameras.
“I didn’t even know that that was a televised moment at all, but I think that’s amazing,” Kenworthy said afterward. “That’s something that I wanted at the last Olympics was to share a kiss with my boyfriend at the bottom and it was something that I was too scared to do for myself. And so to be able to do that, to give him a kiss, to have that affection broadcasted for the world is incredible.
“I think that the only way to really change perceptions, break down homophobia, break down barriers is through representation. That’s definitely not something I had as a kid. I definitely didn’t see a gay athlete at the Olympics kissing their boyfriend and I think that if I had it would have made it a lot easier for me, so hopefully it did that for other people.”
Kenworthy, who scored a silver medal in Sochi, broke his thumb earlier this week and also suffered from a massive hematoma on his hip that required six vials of blood to be drained, will not take home a medal from this Olympic trip.
He easily qualified for the finals, but in his three final runs was unable to string together the jumps he needed to make the podium. But the handsome 26-yearold skier from Telluride, Colorado, seems at peace with his day.
“If you look at me right now, I’m bummed but I’m not sulking, I’m not crying,” Kenworthy shared with The Guardian. “I’m really proud to be here.”
“Being out at this Games has kind of meant the world to me. Just getting to really be myself and be authentic and I think that landing a run in the final, getting on the podium obviously would have been icing on the cake.”
“But even though it didn’t happen for me, I still had a wonderful Olympic experience and I’m really happy for the guys that did get on the podium. I don’t know, maybe there’s a next time.”
Kenworthy easily qualified for the finals of slopestyle with his 90.80
And Team Kenworthy was all smiles and rainbows cheering their guy on
My Seoul mate! So happy to have my bf, my family and some amazing friends here in Korea to cheer me on! Tomorrow’s the big day (tonight for y’all in the US) and win or lose I just wanna thank you all SO much for your support and encouragement. I wouldn’t be here without you. pic.twitter.com/XwqWKldwbN
• Out Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy (above) welcomed his bf Matthew Wilkas to PyeongChang just in time to watch Kenworthy in the slopestyle competition.
• UK tabloid The Daily Mailis losing advertisers after a columnist for the rag wrote a homophobic piece criticizing Tom Daley & Dustin Lance Black for sharing an ultrasound image of their soon-to-arrive baby.
• RuPaul will join Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for the newly-announced 5th season of Grace And Frankie set to be released by Netflix in 2019.
• OUT has announced it annual “100 Most Eligible Bachelors” for 2018. Since I’m married I didn’t make the list, but did you? Or your favorite out athlete/celeb/artist?
• Since 2010, the Olympics have featured Pride Houses where LGBTQ athletes and fans could relax in a safe space. But with no money budgeted for this at PyeongChang, Canada stepped up allowing Canada House to do double duty as Pride House.
• How about one more pic of our awesome Team USA competing at the Winter Olympics? Here’s woofy Carlos Valdes – a member of our four-man bobsled team who competes next Saturday.
Out US Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy told CBS This Morning he agrees with fellow Team USA athlete Adam Rippon in his opposition to Vice President Pence and the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT policies and positions.
Speaking to CBS News’ Don Dahler,” Kenworthy said he had “no patience” for the administration’s actions “attacking” the LGBT community.
“When we have people elected into office that believe in conversion therapy and are trying to strip trans rights in the military and do these things that are directly attacking the LGBT community, I have no patience,” he said.
His comments appear to reference claims that Vice President Mike Pence supported “gay conversion therapy,” which Pence’s office has denied.
Kenworthy earlier this month called Pence a “bad fit” to lead the U.S. delegation to Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“I am so proud to be from the U.S. and to be from a country where you are able to voice your political opinions and stand up for what you believe in,” Kenworthy said on CBS on Thursday.
The woofy freestyle skier from Telluride, Colorado, added that he sees this moment as one of the first gay Americans to compete at a Winter Games as an opportunity to “shed people’s misconceptions” about LGBT athletes.
“I definitely carry a little bit of a burden with me, being a gay athlete going to the Olympics,” said Kenworthy. “I think that there’s pressure… and I think that it kind of gives us a chance to shed people’s misconceptions and just kind of like break down barriers.”
I love this guy.
You can watch Kenworthy’s comments below.
“I definitely carry a little bit of a burden with me, being a gay athlete going to the Olympics. I think that there’s pressure… and I think that it kind of gives us a chance to shed people’s misconceptions and just kind of like break down barriers,” Kenworthy says pic.twitter.com/W2qkIwTNsg
Would you go to the White House if invited?”No…when we have people elected into office that believe in conversion therapy and are trying to strip trans rights in the military and do these things that are directly attacking the LGBT community, I have no patience,” — Kenworthy pic.twitter.com/dcTWHhVvtV
Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy shares part one of a video trilogy made in conjunction with Samsung chronicling his journey to the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In this clip, titled “Roots,” he looks back on his small hometown of Telluride, Colorado, where no one had gone to the Olympics, let alone win a silver medal as he did in the 2014 Winter Games.
He also allows that he was worried if his fellow Telluriders would have celebrated his success had they known he was gay.
But those fears and concerns proved to be unfounded as he faced coming out in 2015.
Kenworthy is proving an excellent advocate for the LGBTQ community with his calm, honest storytelling of how he got to this moment.
Looking forward to parts two and three. Watch below.
Out freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy took part in a press conference over the weekend at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang showing immense poise and confidence in answering questions about a range of topics.
On whether he would sit down to talk with Vice President Mike Pence about his anti-LGBT positions and policies:
“I think I’ve kind of made my opinion on the matter pretty clear. I don’t think that I have any inclination toward a meeting. It think that would be a much bigger distraction for me and right now, I’m just focusing on competing but I’m very excited to be here representing the US and the LGBT community. I’m very happy to meet Adam and we got to hang out at opening ceremonies and I think he’s just a tremendous guy.”
On how being out feels different at these Winter Games:
“I think I’ve actually always been someone that has had to compartmentalize my life because I was in the closet and I was always at fear of outing myself. And I always had so much going on in my mind that I couldn’t share it with anyone, so I actually feel, now that I’m out, I have less to compartmentalize. Although I’ve made it very clear who I am and I think I have taken a step into a sort of leadership role for the LGBT community because there isn’t a ton of representation at the Games, it’s also just me and I’m just being myself. So it’s almost easier than ever to be here and be competing and just feel free and liberated. I’m excited for Adam and all the other out athletes here. It’s an amazing time to be at the Winter Games.”
In a light-hearted moment, Kenworthy was asked if he would take his shirt off, as cross-country skier Pita Taufatofua of Tonga did, if he were to be chosen as flag bearer someday:
“I actually don’t know how that Tongalese guy did that because it was freezing. We had our incredible Ralph Lauren apparel and it was heated. And it was still pretty cold. I’ve got a lot of respect for that guy going out with nothing on. Sure, I would happily do that, but I think there are more aptly suited people to carry the flag. This is Kelly Clark’s fifth Olympics and there are so many people who have insane legacies, and I’m definitely proud of what I’ve done but I doubt I’d be flagbearer if I made it to another Games. But sure, I’ll take it off if I get it.”
