LGBTQ skater Amber Glenn channels queer icon Madonna in her Olympics short program

Name: Amber Glenn

Country: USA

Sport: Women’s figure skating

Previous Olympic experience: None

Social Media: Instagram/TikTok

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Who is Amber Glenn?

There are a multitude of reasons to cherish Amber Glenn.

First and foremost, she has been a ray of light for the LGBTQ community in women’s figure skating since coming out publicly as bisexual and pansexual at age 20 in 2019. 

At that point in her life, she had been one of her sport’s stars for years after winning the 2014 U.S. Junior National Championship. During the interview where she came out, Glenn spoke about the angst and pressure that she endured while still in the closet and why sharing her truth was so important.

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“The fear of not being accepted is a huge trouble for me. Being perceived as ‘just a phase’ or ‘indecisive’ is a common thing for bisexual/pansexual women. I don’t want to shove my sexuality in people’s faces, but I also don’t want to hide who I am,” she told the Dallas Voice.

In the years afterward, Glenn found that living an authentic life became a huge benefit for both her performance on the ice and her overall mental health.

As she described it to Outsports, for years before coming out, “It was internal battles for so long: when to lean into my strengths and when to work on my weaknesses, when to finally let myself portray the way I am off the ice on the ice.”

Glenn has truly learned how to express yourself in recent years. After winning her first US National Championship in 2024, for example, Glenn’s fans handed her a Progress Pride flag and she skated with it during her celebration.

She’s since had plenty of opportunities to take a bow. After winning her third consecutive US National Title this January, Glenn became the first American skater to earn three consecutive National Championships since Michelle Kwan.

Glenn said this week that she would not shy away from controversial subjects at the Games.

“It’s been a hard time for the [LGBTQ] community overall in this administration,” Glenn told People. “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 say you’re just an athlete, like, stick to your job, shut up about politics, but politics affect us all. 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.”

Amber Glenn at the Milan Winter Olympics

As the first out LGBTQ women’s figure skater to compete on the Olympic stage, Glenn will not just be breaking barriers for our community in the sport she dominates, her performance will also be an LGBTQ celebration on the ice.

During the run-up to this year’s US Olympic Trials, Glenn unveiled a short program skating to no less than…

“Like a Prayer” by Madonna.

Suffice it to say there might be no better way to represent the LGBTQ community at the Olympics than by turning the frozen surface at Milano Ice Skating Arena into Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Glenn’s incredible skate to this inner-circle gay banger of bangers at the Olympic Trials inspired figure skating legend Tara Lipinski to enthuse, “This was everything! I have goosebumps!” Fellow commentator (and gay sports icon) Johnny Weir added a “Bravo!”

Now Glenn is looking to win her first Olympic medal. And if she does, you can hum “Crazy For You” as the stars and stripes are raised to the rafters because the Pride flag won’t be far behind.

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The post LGBTQ skater Amber Glenn channels queer icon Madonna in her Olympics short program appeared first on Outsports.