22 LGBTQ+ Athletes Who Are Speaking Out and Leading the Way — in Sports and Beyond

Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy won a silver medal at the 2014 Olympics to go with his multiple X Games gold medals and world titles. He came out as gay in a 2015 cover story for ESPN The Magazine, saying, "I never got to be proud of what I did in Sochi because I felt so horrible about what I didn't do. I didn't want to come out as the silver medalist from Sochi. I wanted to come out as the best freeskier in the world."

For most of his life, Kenworthy wrote on Facebook, he'd been "afraid to embrace that truth about myself. Recently though, I've gotten to the point where the pain of holding onto the lie is greater than the fear of letting go, and I'm very proud to finally be letting my guard down."