Happy Pride! I’m Timothy LeDuc, my pronouns are They/Them
Happy Pride! I’m Timothy LeDuc, my pronouns are They/Them. In honor of Pride Month, Timothy LeDuc (USA) penned the following text for the International Skating Union.
Everyone, welcome! Congratulations on being a proud member of your community! Thank you for taking the time to read this letter from Timothy LeDuc, who is the 2019 and 2022 United States pairs champion and Beijing Olympic gold medalist with Ashley Cain. My pronouns are They/Them, and I’m thrilled to be writing to you as part of ISU’s Pride Month campaign to support LGBTQ+ athletes.
Transgender
Having been the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics is a huge honor for me and my family. Eliot Halverson and the United States Figure Skating (USFS) sponsored an Instagram Live event in June 2021 in which I was the first person to openly discuss my gender. Figure skating is an extremely subjective sport, and I was first hesitant to talk openly about being non-binary for fear of damaging my chances of success.
Ashley Cain, my skating partner, is a blessing to me because she is ready to take those chances with me. Since Rudy Galindo, Timothy Goebel, Adam Rippon, and others had a significant impact on my time in the sport, I felt it was necessary to speak up for the next generation of Skaters and Olympians so that they, too, would feel welcome in the sport. Besides that, I was well aware of how vital it was for me to compete at the Olympics as my true self, and I was certain that I would have regretted suppressing that fact. Because of Eliot’s help, we were able to do an Instagram Live on the subject.
Gender issues
Gender issues arose frequently during the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2022 as a result of the athletes’ decision to come out publicly. To be honest, it was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, it was wonderful to connect with so many wonderful queer individuals from all over the world who reached out to me while the Olympics were going on. It meant a lot to me to carry on the work of those LGBTQ figure skaters who came before me in empowering and paving the way for my own visibility.
Some of the hostility and venom spewed at me and other transgender/non-binary persons were tough to watch. US Figure Skating and my Beijing team were a huge help to me because it’s so difficult to take on the enormous goal of competing in THE OLYMPIC GAMES while also being the focus of open hatred on the internet.
Statements
Forceful and public statements against all forms of bigotry should be taken by the Olympic Committee, especially when it comes from within the Olympic Village. A clear line of zero tolerance for intolerance is drawn by the sports governing organizations, and this solidarity sends a strong message to LGBTQ+ athletes that they are welcome and safe in sporting venues. Silence, on the other hand, encourages hostility. Figure skaters who identify as LGBTQ+ or BIPOC are more likely to encounter discrimination because of their marginalized status, and I hope that regulating bodies like the IOC and ISU will take more and bolder actions to protect their vulnerable athletes from hate.
Figure skating isn’t the only place where LGBTQ+ people are at risk, which is why I leaped at the chance to write for the ISU during Pride Month. The time is ripe for amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ athletes, as the rights and protections of LGBTQ+ people are being undermined or eliminated in countries all over the world.
Remembering the significance of Pride Month and its origins is especially appropriate right now. Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and many others marched to the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June 1969 to demand an end to institutionalized violence against the LGBTQ community. This launched the beginning of the queer liberation movement and in the years to come helped establish the groundwork to gain some of the protections we enjoy today.
Shame is the polar opposite of pride. Now that we’re in 2022, the month of February serves as a reminder to embrace our individuality, appreciate our uniqueness, and let go of our shame. During Pride Month, I feel like I’ve taken a small break from the clouds while I’m among my gorgeous LGBTQ chosen family. In addition, we must remember that Pride is a protest rooted in fighting back against oppression, perhaps more than ever as new laws threaten the safety of LGBTQ+ people.
Stakers
As Figure Skaters, what can we do about this? As a person who has had to deal with discrimination for simply being who I am, skating provided a safe haven for me and many others. No one should ever have to be ashamed of being honestly who they are, or fear prejudice, bigotry, or hatred because of who they are in order to achieve their highest ambitions in our sport, in my vision for its future.
It’s at this point that I really need all of you. In order to make our wonderful sport more inclusive and accepting for LGBTQ+ skaters, it is incumbent upon each of us to play a role. As skaters, we all have the chance to show our support for LGBTQ skaters in our rinks and skating locations. It could be anything from a simple gesture to a more complex activity.
If you see someone using a homophobic slur toward an LGBT skater, you can just speak up and tell them to stop. In the end, each act of solidarity contributes to making our sport more egalitarian and welcoming to all skaters. Please join me in making Figure Skating a better sport for everyone, not just during Pride Month.