Hopes to become first male winter Olympian to be openly gay
Blake Skjellerup is trying to become the first male Winter Olympian to compete while being openly gay. The short track speed skater from New Zealand has set his sights on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia but he first has to compete in four World Cup events and finish in the top 32 to qualify. The athlete has also mounted a crowd funding campaign on indiegogo.com, a website that helps people raise funds for causes they are passionate about, to raise the $33,000 he needs for travel and training costs.
If the task of qualifying for the Olympics isn’t challenging enough, Skjellerup plans on defying Russia’s recently passed anti-gay laws. In June of 2013, Russia passed a law banning the spread of homosexual propaganda among minors, raising outcries from countries around the world that deemed the move extremely discriminatory.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned the waving of rainbow flags or any pro-LGBT commentary could violate its rules. The IOC has also rejected calls from athletes and critics of the laws to move the Winter Games from Russia.
The IOC said that, “it had assessed that a Russian law banning ‘gay propaganda’ does not violate its charter and the city of Sochi would be ready to host the 2014 Winter Games,” in an article published on Sept. 26 in the Globe and Mail.
Many have advocated for a boycott of the Games to show support, but others think that would only punish athletes who have dedicated years of their lives to training just to get to the Olympics.
Among those expressing disdain for Russia’s new laws is president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames, Brian Burke. Burke has taken a tough stand against the laws he believes to be “reprehensible.”
The former Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager criticized the laws, which criminalize any public behaviour deemed to be pro-gay.
For example, if charged with holding hands in public with someone of the same sex, a person can spend up to two weeks in prison. Burke said that such laws have made it illegal for parents to openly show support for their gay children.
Burke became an advocate for gay rights in honour of his son Brendan, a gay athlete who came “out” shortly before tragically dying in a car accident in 2010. Burke’s older son, Patrick, started You Can Play, an organization with the goal of eradicating homophobia in junior and professional sports, for which Brian Burke sits on the board. He is urging people to wear rainbow pins in support of gay rights at the Olympics, and to learn the Russian phrase, “I am pro-gay.”
You Can Play is one of the sponsors backing Skjellerup’s online fundraising efforts to get himself to Sochi. The campaign has raised more than $26,000 since it began.