Miami Beach Gay Pride has announced woofy out Olympian Gus Kenworthy will serve as Grand Marshal for the event on April 10.
According to a press release from the pride committee, the Olympic silver medalist is “thrilled to lead the parade at Miami Beach Gay Pride.”
NBC6 weekend anchor Roxanne Vargas will join Kenworthy for the parade as this year’s ally grand marshal.
For its 10-year anniversary, Miami Beach Gay Pride 2018 will feature a week’s worth of events, April 2-8, which include highlights such as Pride Lights the Night, a tribute to the PULSE nightclub victims; the Miss Pride drag pageant; a Friday night VIP Gala; Saturday beach party and festival; and Sunday parade and festival.
Disco legend Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”) will perform at 8PM on the pride mainstage.
In Coming Out Stories, a new video series from PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly, 16 LGBTQ people from all walks of life share how they opened up to friends, family and the world — and how their lives changed.
Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy looks back on his coming out journey and shares the message he’d love to tell his younger self:
“I think that I would have told that younger person not to be so afraid to let everyone else know that I was gay, because it’s been incredible.
“I think if I could have told my younger self, ‘Just wait. When you’re older you’re going to out and proud and you’re going to have a boyfriend. And you’re going to be so excited to share yourself authentically with the world and it’s going to make a difference for other people.’
“I think it would have given that young kid a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Gus also explains that, even though he didn’t understand the feelings at the time, he probably knew he was gay when he was five years-old.
In lighter moments, Gus describes being in an Uber with a driver asking him “Where are the hot chicks tonight?” The 26-year-old Olympian exults in being able to respond, “Actually, I don’t know because I’m gay. Where are the dudes?”
Others sharing their stories include Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Grey’s Anatomy actress Sara Ramirez, retired NBA player Jason Collins, social media star Tyler Oakley and Brooke Guinan, a New York City firefighter who is transgender.
PEOPLE and EW partnered with GLSEN, the LGBT advocacy group that fights to make schools safe for all kids, to create Coming Out Stories.
• Paleontologist & athlete Francesc Gascó is serving serious buff and beard (above).
• Anti-LGBT bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein, who owned and operated Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon, are still trying to get out of paying their $135,000 fine for refusing to sell a lesbian couple a wedding cake even though a crowd-funding campaign gave them a $500,000 windfall. #MakingMoneyOnHate
• Some folks didn’t appreciate out Olympian Adam Rippon’s leather harness-styled tux at the Oscars, but he says it made him feel “cool AF.” I thought he rocked it.
I think fashion is all about self expression and I chose to wear what I wore on the red carpet because I felt cool AF. Everyone should take risks, be bold, and not give a 💩. It’s LOTS of fun. Huge thanks to my team for dressing me and make me feel like a sexy MF. pic.twitter.com/gimDFyJPYd
• Menswear ads in the Netherlands featuring male couples kissing are being vandalized. Who knew there were such haters in the Netherlands?
• Gus Kenworthy (looking totally swoon-worthy) penned a clever Instagram post in the style of a “missed connections” ad after he and bf Matt Wilkas chatted up superstar Ricky Martin and his husband Jwan Yosef at the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
Ok, just because I love my Olympic boys Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon, I have to share these pics from their social media accounts as both were invited to last night’s Academy Award ceremonies.
Above, Gus snapped a quick pic with boyfriend Matthew Wilkas as they were heading out for the evening. Word is they were on the list for just about every important post-Oscar party there was – Vanity Fair’s soiree, Elton John’s party…
Gus also co-hosted the “Eonline Puppy Pick” where he may or may not have helped steer the Call Me By Your Name pup to the finish line.
And below, Adam, as always, was Adam bringing his own sense of style to the red carpet. That look included a leather harness which Adam pulled off flawlessly.
I think fashion is all about self expression and I chose to wear what I wore on the red carpet because I felt cool AF. Everyone should take risks, be bold, and not give a 💩. It’s LOTS of fun. Huge thanks to my team for dressing me and make me feel like a sexy MF. pic.twitter.com/gimDFyJPYd— Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) March 6, 2018
In the second installment of three videos produced by sponsor Samsung, out Olympian Gus Kenworthy reflects on how letters and messages from his boyfriend, actor Matthew Wilkas, kept him inspired and on track for competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“I am so happy for you. I am so proud of you. Because I know how hard you have worked to get here.”
“You are loved by so many people Gus,’ says Matthew, as he forwards video messages from family and friends.
The spot also deals directly with the coming out experience for gay men. Says one friend, “As a gay man growing up, I think the minute we realize we’re gay – it’s a flaw – but people when they look at you, they think ‘I can do anything and be gay and that there’s nothing wrong with me.’”
In another message, a fan named Wendle thanks Gus for being the inspiration that helped him find the courage to come out.
The good wishes serve as a sonic landscape as we watch Gus train in solitude as so many world-class athletes do.
The video is accompanied by a message from the handsome freestyle skier: “This became so much bigger than skiing. You all let me be myself and that’s all I’ve ever wanted. Thank you to my partner Samsung for helping share my story.”
Yesterday I reported on Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy sharing some of the hateful comments he’s received on his YouTube channel.
Well, it turns out YouTube was listening and plans to do something about it.
YouTube tweeted the Gus man saying, “This is unacceptable, we’re so sorry these comments and notifications came through to you. We’re actively working to fix this so you won’t see or be notified of abusive comments and exploring more ways to protect people from abusive comments overall.”
And Kenworthy was ready with a solution: “Thank you YouTube! Maybe consider filtering out keywords and phrases like “faggot” and “kill yourself” so that they just never show up in anyone’s comments? I’m confident enough to brush it off but a younger me would have had a harder time.”
This is unacceptable, we’re so sorry these comments and notifications came through to you. We’re actively working to fix this so you won’t see or be notified of abusive comments and exploring more ways to protect people from abusive comments overall.
Thank you YouTube! Maybe consider filtering out keywords and phrases like “faggot” and “kill yourself” so that they just never show up in anyone’s comments? I’m confident enough to brush it off but a younger me would have had a harder time. https://t.co/9Iugwoev1q
Bonus Gus: Kenworthy also shared that he and several other U.S. Olympians will be at the NYC Ralph Lauren store this evening for a meet & greet with fans! Bring him dipping dots and you may catch his eye!
Hi NYC peeps! I’ll be at the @RalphLauren SoHo store tmrw from 5 – 6:30pm along w/ other RL & USA teammates @JamieAsnow, @AjaLEvans, @AlexShibutani & @MaiaShibutani! Come get a picture or an autograph (if ppl still do that). If anybody brings me dippin’ dots I’ll love u 4 ever.
Along with the increased visibility that comes with being one of the first openly gay U.S. Olympic athletes, freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy has also become something of a target for hateful homophobic comments on his YouTube videos, making the point that homophobia is alive and well in 2018.
In a tweet, Kenworthy shared comments he’s received calling him “faggot” and wishes for him to die an agonizing death from AIDS or some accident.
The tweet began, “Them: It’s 2018 nobody cares that you’re gay. Homophobia doesn’t exist anymore. Get over yourself.”
That was followed with screen captures of the hateful messages.
“Gross faggot. Fuck you. Go die of aids. Sodom and Gomorrah will return. Sick nasty pedi-fag.”
“But you are not a “champion” you are a faggot. With any luck you die a horribly painful and drawn out death mangled in a car wreck. Or a mussy pushes you off a building would also be just fine. Or maybe someone just walks up to you and play the “knock-out” game on you and your skull cracks wide open when you hit the ground and bleed out in the street.”
“Gus you are nothing but a sperm drinking, ass fucking FAG – a fucking FREAK of nature, hurry and get AIDS.”
Lovely people, no?
Them: It’s 2018 nobody cares that you’re gay. Homophobia doesn’t exist anymore. Get over yourself.
Yes, kids, homophobia is alive and well in Trump country.
But, that said, there were lots of folks who spoke out on Gus’s behalf.
I am so sorry Gus you are dealing with this. All those vile comments reflect on the people making them, not you. Thank you for always representing #TeamUSA so well, on and off skis.
Love you, man. Stay strong. You’re helping to change the world so scared, pathetic, afraid-they’d-like-it-if-they-tried-it assholes like this disappear into oblivion and are forgotten forever.
U.S. Olympians Adam Rippon (L) and Gus Kenworthy (R)
In an interview with The Washington Post, freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon shared their thoughts on being the first two out male Winter Olympians and how it affected not only themselves but other athletes.
Both acknowledged that one byproduct of their openness about being gay was the encounters with closeted athletes and coaches who thanked them for the representation.
Kenworthy said two athletes and a coach approached him while Rippon spoke of a coach did the same.
The duo, who became friends thanks to their shared status as “America’s gay Olympians,” also noted the enormous fear and energy that being closeted took from each of their lives.
Said Rippon, “I think you spend so much time worrying about what other people think about, that you realize that you had all of this extra energy that you didn’t need to be using. And, you know, I think straight people never have this experience of coming out. And it’s such a life-changing moment that you become so strong. I gained so much power and strength from that moment.”
“And I agree with what he said about it being effortless,” Kenworthy added, “because when I was in the closet, it was so [pause] much [pause] effort to stay in the closet and constantly worrying, and fearing I was going to fall asleep before the other guys on my team and say something in my sleep, or anything. I was just, all the time, always nervous that I was going to out myself, that someone was going to find out, and it was this horrible, horrible thing. And now that I’m out, and I realize how great it is, and I’m just getting to enjoy my life, I feel like I just feel free and liberated and I’m competing better, interviews, anything, I just get to be myself, and it’s a strange thing to be thanked for that, but it’s also amazing.”
The two athletes also agreed that they felt the need to be at the top of their respective sports before they could come out in that being “the best” meant haters couldn’t throw shade.
“For myself,” Kenworthy said, “when I came out [in 2015], I felt like I needed to be the best, because that was what I thought it would take to be accepted. No one can talk s— on you if you’re the No. 1 ranked in the world, and so that’s what my whole thing was, and so I made sure that the season before I came out, I was the No. 1-ranked guy in the world, and that was how I wanted to come out. Because I felt like, ‘You can’t argue with that.’ But in the end, no one was trying to argue with it anyway.”
“I actually feel exactly the same,” Rippon said, “where I made sure that when I came out, I was skating very well, so that I would be taken seriously. And after I came out, I won my national title.”
Truly, Rippon and Kenworthy were taken very seriously in their sports.
And regarding the “gay Olympian” label? Rippon summed it all up thusly:
“I think, at the end of the day, that we’re just Olympians. And I think we’re ‘gay Olympians,’ and the next gay Olympians will just be called Olympians, and I think that’s what we really hope, that it won’t be a story.”
2018 Winter Olympians Adam Rippon (L) and Gus Kenworthy (R)
Out Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy is having a sassy time on the Twitter today as he enjoys the closing ceremonies in PyeongChang.
From sharing the news of Team Russia’s gold medal win in men’s hockey (“Russia’s biggest win since the 2016 Presidential election!”) to questioning Ivanka Trump’s “hard work” to get to the Olympics to teasing his new bestie Adam Rippon (“Please stop calling me. You’re honestly starting to get v clingy and I can’t anymore”).
So proud of all these people! Everybody here has worked so hard to make it to the Olympics and have the opportunity to walk in the closing ceremony! Well… Everyone except Ivanka. Honestly, tf is she doing here?? pic.twitter.com/sfJKi0VTDb
Two weeks ago, at opening ceremonies, we met and a friendship began. Today, at closing ceremonies, it ends. @Adaripp, please stop calling me. You’re honestly starting to get v clingy and I can’t anymore. pic.twitter.com/h9GArWda9b
Out U.S. Olympians (L-R) Adam Rippon, Brittany Bowe and Gus Kenworthy
As the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang come to a close, join me as I celebrate the awesome accomplishments of the openly gay, lesbian and bisexual Olympians at these games.
Of a record 15 out LGBTQ athletes (including out men for the first time at a Winter Olympics), four athletes won a combined seven medals.
The number of out Olympians at these Games is more than double the seven from the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. In contrast, there were 56 out Olympians at the much larger Summer Olympics in 2016.
Listen as I recap the fantastic achievements of U.S. Olympians Adam Rippon, Gus Kenworthy and Brittany Bowe as well as Canada’s Eric Radford, the Netherlands’ Ireen Wust, Belgium’s Jorik Hendrickx, Belle Brockhoff and Barbara Jezeršek of Australia, Swiss snowboarder Simona Meiler and more.
