Amber Glenn wins Olympic gold — and refuses to back down after anti-LGBTQ backlash

Amber Glenn hasn’t only been a hot topic during the Winter Olympics in Milan because her team figure skating gold medal win or her further medal aspirations in the women’s individual event that kicks off next week.

The out pansexual/bisexual Olympian continued her vocal advocacy for LGBTQ populations during her time in Italy, most notably during a pre-Polympic press conference last week where she criticized the current Presidential Administration for its heightened effort to erode civil rights for LGBTQ people in the country.

“It’s been a hard time for the [LGBTQ] community overall in this administration,” Glenn said. “It isn’t the first time that we’ve had to come together as a community and try and fight for our human rights. And now especially, it’s not just affecting the queer community but many other communities, and I think that we are able to support each other in a way that we didn’t have to before and because of that it’s made us a lot stronger.

“I hope I can use my platform and my voice throughout these games to try and encourage people to stay strong in these hard times. I know that a lot of people will say, ‘You’re just an athlete. Stick to your job. Shut up about politics,’ but politics affect us all,” she continued. “It is something that I will not just be quiet about because it is something that affects us in our everyday lives. So, of course, there are things that I disagree with but, as a community, we are strong and we support each other and brighter days are ahead of us.”

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Glenn’s comments sparked an expected backlash from fans of the President and affiliates of his Administration.

According to the three-time U.S. national champion, Glenn received threats for her statement.

“I couldn’t believe the outlandish backlash I received for just supporting people,” Glenn told USA Today after winning her first Olympic gold medal. “I’m not online right now because of it, but I’m gonna keep speaking my truth. I’m gonna keep representing what I believe in and what I think all Americans believe in, which is freedom and being able to love and do what you want.”

Glenn has limited her time online while in Milan, as she said, but that doesn’t mean she’s been completely radio silent on social media. And when she has posted, it’s been steeped in a message to critics of her speaking out for queer populations: stay mad.

She and fellow outspoken LGBTQ supporter Alysa Liu showed off their gold medals in a post on Glenn’s TikTok account Tuesday.

Related

USA and out LGBTQ skater Amber Glenn take team skate gold at Winter Olympics
Battling through early miscues, Glenn helped deliver Team LGBTQ’s second gold medal of the day.

@amberglenniceskater An Olympic gold medal & having Madonna telling me she's proud of me all within 24 HRs @madonna #olympics #TeamUSA ♬ Thief of Hearts – Madonna

“If ‘Woke’ means people who use their platforms to advocate for marginalized communities in the country that they are actively representing … then yeah sure?” the message attached to the post read.

Glenn also shared a video of her dancing to Madonna’s “Thief of Hearts” in the Olympic Village with the message “An Olympic gold medal and having Madonna telling me she’s proud of me all within 24 hours” as a separate flex on those decrying her.

At the same time, she has continued speaking on mental health advocacy and promoting the support she received from LGBTQ and human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, for her outspokenness on Instagram. Her Instagram story on Wednesday highlighted NYC Pride’s response to the National Park Service removing the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument and Madonna’s rainbow-laden praise of Glenn as a “Baddie on ice.”

With an entire Olympic program still on her plate, Glenn isn’t letting the outside pressure silence her when speaking to both the joy and discrimination experienced by herself and the community she represents. You love to see it.

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