U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn is the first openly queer woman to represent the United States in the Olympics for singles figure skating.
Glenn, at 26, is at her peak. She has won three straight national championships from 2024-2026. With a wide variety of skill; aggressive turns, record leaps, and a clean triple axel that placed her in the ranks as one of only four American women to do so in international competition.
The U.S. figure skating team has gone 20 years without an Olympic medal, and Glenn and her team put an end to the dry spell during their event on Sunday.
In 2019, Glenn came out publicly, acknowledging her sexuality. She is bisexual and pansexual. Glenn recently opened up about how coming out affected her career.
At the beginning, Glenn had been apprehensive about sharing her sexuality publicly. However, she had trained alongside Timothy DeLuc, the first openly nonbinary Olympian to compete in the Winter Olympics and was compelled to follow their example.
In her first return to the ice after coming out, Glenn was surprised by the public support. “I remember skating my first competition after coming out and seeing Pride flags in the audience,” Glenn says. “People were cheering louder than ever. I almost started crying before I even skated. It was one of the most emotional performances of my life. I felt so free.”
Glenn spoke about how bisexual and pansexual women are often viewed by society, with negative perceptions of their sexuality being “indecisiveness” or “just a phase.” Glenn did not want her coming out to be regarded with this same attitude, but she did not want to hide who she is. Since coming out, she had leaned on the stories of how her openness has impacted others as motivation to propel her forward: “It’s one of the reasons why I kept skating even when I might not have been seeing the results I wanted.”
With the Winter Olympics underway, Glenn has received an unfortunate amount of hate and threats for discussing her representation of the LGBTQ+ community at the Olympics. She vowed to continue to speak her truth despite the disappointing backlash she has received for opening up about her sexuality.
In the current time, where queer and marginalized voices are being silenced, especially in the world of athletics, it is critical that individuals continue to speak out and represent our community the way that Amber Glenn is determined to.
Photo courtesy of social media
