Gay Olympians object to Mike Pence leading Olympic delegation
Earlier this month, figure skater Adam Rippon earned the distinction of becoming the first openly gay U.S. athlete to ever qualify for the Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, he’ll have to enter the opening ceremonies in PyeongChang behind Vice President Mike Pence, who is known for his history of anti-LGBTQ advocacy, about which President Trump has reportedly joked around the White House.
“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” Rippon said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports this week. “I’m not buying it.”
In 2000, Pence refused to support the Ryan White Care Act, which funds HIV treatment for those who can’t afford it, if the bill did not provide funding for ex-gay therapy. Pence subsequently stated, through spokespeople, that claims he supported ex-gay therapy were a “mischaracterization.”
That comment rings hollow given Pence’s other anti-LGBTQ beliefs. For example, in 2007, he opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) because he felt employers should be allowed to fire or refuse to hire people who engage in “homosexual behavior.” He’s also widely thought to be the primary influencer for the Trump administration’s many anti-LGBTQ initiatives.
Rippon doesn’t want to even meet Pence, if he can help it. “I don’t think he has a real concept of reality,” the 28-year-old skater said. “To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say he’s a devout Christian man is completely contradictory. If he’s okay with what’s being said about people and Americans and foreigners and about different countries that are being called ‘shitholes,’ I think he should really go to church.”
The skater likewise reiterated that he he will refuse to go to the White House for a post-Olympic celebration. Last week, he explained to the BBC that he felt he had a duty as a role model not to entertain Trump’s invitation.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 18, 2018 3:31 AM
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"Tough tittie" said the kittie when the milk ran dry
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 18, 2018 2:40 AM
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I like this guy! Adam Rippon has my support.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 18, 2018 2:42 AM
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Since when do the VP's walk in with the delegation???
Don't they just sit up in the stands away from the rabble??
I wouldn't walk behind that asshole.
Besides, wouldn't it be dangerous for him to be there? Not that I care, of course.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 18, 2018 2:45 AM
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I can't believe Adam Rippon's gay.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 18, 2018 2:48 AM
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good for him.
pence is a right wing creep
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | January 18, 2018 2:48 AM
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Maybe Adam should consider staying home if he is having issues. We need someone without baggage performing at their best.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 18, 2018 2:48 AM
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Winter Olympics: Mike Pence to Lead U.S. Delegation
Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence will reportedly lead the United States delegation at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea next month. The rest of the delegation has not yet been announced, but White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they are finalizing the delegation and will announce it soon.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 18, 2018 2:50 AM
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As Bleacher Report noted, only once has the President, Vice President or First Lady not been a member of the United States delegation since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Barack Obama broke the mold in 2013 when he chose to send a message by selecting openly gay athletes Billie Jean King and Caitlin Cahow to represent the United States delegation for the 2014 Summer Olympics in Sochi, Russia – a move that was seen to be in direct response to Russia’s passing of an anti-gay law.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 18, 2018 2:52 AM
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Rippon isn't in the Marines and this isn't a mandatory deployment. He can decline to participate if he so wishes. Let's see him put his money where his mouth is.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | January 18, 2018 2:56 AM
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Leading doesn't mean marching in the opening ceremony, does it? Doesn't it just mean he's technically going to be the highest ranking US Official present at the Olympics?
Oh, and also...fuck off, R6/R9.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 18, 2018 2:57 AM
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R6/R9 - maybe Pence can take his place on the ice.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 18, 2018 3:01 AM
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Or maybe he can choose not to walk in the opening ceremony. It would suck for him, though. That's a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 18, 2018 3:01 AM
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[quote]Maybe Adam should consider staying home if he is having issues. We need someone without baggage performing at their best.
He could have been a pussy who said nothing, or he could have said some really stupid shit like closet case Jeremy Abbott did in Sochi. He didn't take the coward's way out, he stood up for his principles. What else do you want? I don't think that is the act of someone "with baggage" unless you think being gay is baggage in and of itself.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | January 18, 2018 3:09 AM
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It would be preferable if he focused on perfecting his routines and less on politics and his social profile. He needs to keep his head in the game.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 18, 2018 3:19 AM
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I think it's admirable for him to take such a political stance. Good for him.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 18, 2018 3:20 AM
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hell yes i admire him alot.
takes guts to do that.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | January 18, 2018 3:23 AM
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Here's What Mike Pence Said on LGBT Issues Over the Years
Pence said in his speech, “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” Pence also called being gay a choice and said keeping gays from marrying was not discrimination, but an enforcement of “God’s idea.”
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act bans discrimination against people based on sexual orientation. Pence voted against that law in 2007 and later said the law “wages war on freedom and religion in the workplace.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 18, 2018 3:24 AM
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R6, do you happen to be a member of the US Figure Skating Association? If not, then shut the fuck up about ‘we’ because you’ve done nothing to contribute to what it took for Rippon to make it to the Olympics.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 18, 2018 3:31 AM
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