Olympic determine skater Amber Glenn is defending her determination to share her beliefs.
“Once I selected to make the most of one of many wonderful issues about the US of America (freedom of speech) to convey how I really feel as an athlete competing for Staff USA in a troubling time for a lot of Individuals, I’m now receiving a scary quantity of hate/threats for merely utilizing my voice when requested about how I really feel,” Glenn, 26, wrote through her Instagram Tales on Saturday, February 7. “I did anticipate this, however I’m upset by it.”
Glenn appeared along with her fellow members of the Staff USA determine skating crew throughout a Wednesday, February 4, press convention, the place she was requested about representing the LGBTQIA+ group within the Olympics. (Glenn identifies as pansexual.)
“It’s been a tough time for the group total on this administration. It isn’t the primary time that we’ve needed to come collectively as a group and try to battle for our human rights,” she mentioned on the time. “And now, particularly, it’s not simply affecting the queer group, however many different communities. I feel that we’re in a position to assist one another in a means that we didn’t need to earlier than, and due to that, it’s made us loads stronger.”
Glenn additional careworn that she didn’t plan to draw back from getting political or publicly addressing her beliefs.
“I hope I can use my platform and my voice all through these Video games to try to encourage folks to remain sturdy in these laborious occasions,” the Olympic athlete careworn to reporters. “I do know that lots of people say, ‘You’re simply an athlete, like, stick with your job, shut up about politics,’ however politics have an effect on us all.”
She continued, “It’s one thing that I cannot simply be quiet about as a result of it’s one thing that impacts us in our on a regular basis lives. So, after all, there are issues that I disagree with, however as a group, we’re sturdy and we assist one another, and brighter days are forward of us.”
Amber Glenn performs throughout a Making the Staff occasion of the 2026 United States Determine Skating Championships in January. Jamie Squire/Getty Pictures
Glenn uploaded a photograph of her press convention quote to her Instagram Tales on Saturday, additionally revealing she deliberate to take a step again from social media amid the Olympics.
“I will likely be limiting my time on social media for my very own wellbeing for now,” she concluded in her social media assertion. “However, I’ll by no means cease utilizing my voice for what I consider in. 🤍 Xoxo, Amber.”
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Glenn is the primary overtly LGBTQIA+ determine skater to characterize Staff USA in a Winter Olympics.
“The concern of not being accepted is a large battle for me,” Glenn, who publicly got here out in 2019, advised the Dallas Voice that 12 months. “Being perceived as [going through] ‘only a section’ or [being] ‘indecisive’ is a typical factor for bisexual/pansexual ladies. I don’t need to shove my sexuality in folks’s faces, however I additionally don’t need to disguise who I’m.”
Since popping out as queer, Glenn has in the end felt embraced by the skating group.
“Determine skating is exclusive,” the professional athlete advised NBC Information final month. “We now have extra acceptance and extra of a group within the queer area, and I really feel like I’ve been accepted with open arms, and that’s not the case for all sports activities.”
