Friends! The Summer Olympics are here, and I love the Olympics. I really really love the Olympics. I have fond memories of watching them when I was young-–figure skating had a serious hold on millennial kids–and even as an adult they are such a wholesome distraction from reality. Remember when Call Me Maybe was the song of the summer in 2012, and the USA Olympic swim team went viral on Youtube? What a time to be alive.
The Olympic games are one of those rare instances of camaraderie and patriotism, when we’re all cheering for our country’s athletes, following their inspiring stories and casually chatting about them like they’re our dearest friends. The best athletes in the world make it look so easy. Twisting and flipping midair only to enter the water at the perfect angle to create the tiniest splash? Simple! Running 10,000 meters in less than 30 minutes? No problem. We mere mortals get to marvel at Olympians and their athletic prowess as we cheer them on.
According to NBC News, at least 144 out LGBTQ+ athletes will be heading to Paris for the 2024 Summer Games. Here are some of our favorite out American Olympic athletes.
One of the fastest women in history, this decorated track and field sprinter won the world championship in 2023, and this will be her first appearance in the Olympic games. Richardson is openly bisexual and a popular American athlete.
Want to read about her new Vogue cover? Read it here on Pink News.
A Transgender American runner, Hiltz ran the second fastest time ever of any American in the women’s 1500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 30th. They were quoted in an NBC News article. “This is bigger than just me. It’s the last day of Pride Month. … I wanted to run this one for my community,” they said. “All the LGBT folks, yeah, you guys brought me home that last hundred [meters]. I could just feel the love and support.”
Selected by fans in 2021 as the WNBA’s greatest player of all time, Taurasi already has 5 Olympic gold medals, and at 42 years old, she’s seeking one more. She and her wife have two kids. You can follow as she shares her family life and professional accomplishments on Instagram. She’s joined in Paris this summer with other out players including Chelsea Gray, Alyssa Thomas, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd, and Brittney Griner.
Saunders is an out and proud track and field athlete who competes in the shot put and discus throw, and they won a silver medal in Tokyo for shot put. Though Saunders ended up in second place during the Olympic trials, we’re hopeful for some Paris Gold!
Roberts began riding BMX at age 9 and is a five time world champion in the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships and silver medalist in freestyle BMX at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Roberts has been fighting for pay equity in sport – quoted here in an NBC Sports article, “When I first started in 2016, it was the first year that women’s BMX was able to compete in contests all around the world,” Roberts explained. “Men were making 8,000 [Euro], and we were making 250 Euro for a win. There [were] two or three years where we didn’t have a livestream. The only way that you could see how we competed is if one of us went live on social media. Contests used to never post about us. X-Games still doesn’t have a women’s class. There’s so many things that are still happening and that we’re trying to make equal.”
This 21-year-old American long-distance runner came out on Instagram in 2022. This will be his first Olympics, and he is the first out U.S. gay male track and field athlete to make the team.
Okay, okay, Daley isn’t American, but he does live in Los Angeles. This British diver is not only an Olympic gold medalist, but he and husband Dustin Lance Black have the cutest family. Daley has his own YouTube channel, children’s book, apparel collections … he’s a busy guy. We love gay athletes that get to live out loud!
Want to know more about the LGBTQ+ athletes heading to Paris? Here’s a more extensive list from Out.
Don’t miss the Olympic games in Paris starting this Friday July 26th.
Hey there. Laura Leigh here. I’m a wife, writer, mama, small business owner, podcast host, and the Head of Content here at Pink Robin.
I love supporting the queer community and bringing shared experiences to life.
If you have a story to tell, I’m here for it.
lauraleigh@pinkrobinshop.com
I remember when my wife and I first became moms, I knew that our ability to “pass” was behind us. I was never going to pretend that my wife and family were something other than exactly who they were. It was freeing to know that I had to live my queer life out loud, that I would forever be myself in every space, all the time.
In a 2023 CNN article Daniel Korschun, associate professor of marketing at Drexel University explained that when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, executives “are becoming much more skittish about taking these stands and making strong statements.
According to a 2022 Pew Research Poll, roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults say there is at least some discrimination against transgender people in our society. Because trans rights have become such a contentious issue across the country, companies that used to view supporting pride as “low stakes” have become less likely to support the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. “The pendulum is swinging a bit back … toward a more conservative approach, where they’ll be less vocal,” says Korschun. According to a recent NBC News article, Target stores will only sell pride merchandise in select locations this year. The retailer will not have Pride collections in about half of their locations. Additionally, they will only sell pride merchandise for adults.
An argument that Target has made in the past and is now using again is that this decision protects their LGBTQ+ employees, but let’s be clear: Conditional allyship is not support. Pulling queer merchandise from their shelves and essentially pretending that we don’t exist–and ignoring those of us who have children that want to celebrate pride with us–is detrimental to our community. Erasure threatens our safety. This weekend my mom told me that she’s done with Target. Like her, I can’t say I feel good about spending my money in a place that doesn’t value my family. As of today, the ACLU is currently tracking 515 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. We exist, and abandoning us only endangers us.
