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Champion figure skater makes history & unfurls Pride flag during gold medal ceremony

COLUMBUS, OHIO - JANUARY 26: Amber Glenn celebrates after the medals ceremony for the Championship Women's competition during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Nationwide Arena on January 26, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio.
COLUMBUS, OHIO - JANUARY 26: Amber Glenn celebrates after the medals ceremony for the Championship Women's competition during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Nationwide Arena on January 26, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. Photo: Getty Images

Out skater Amber Glenn has won the U.S. Figure Skating title and draped herself in the Progress Pride Flag as she posed with the gold medal.

Glenn, who came out in 2019, identifies as bisexual and pansexual. She is the first queer woman ever to win the prestigious title.

“When I first came out, I was terrified. I was worried it might affect my scores,” she said after the ceremony. “It means so much to me, after everything I’ve been through in the last 10 years.”

Glenn won the silver medal in 2021 and bronze in 2023. In 2022, she was a reserve member of Team USA’s Figure Skating squad at the Winter Olympics in China.

Despite suffering a concussion and broken bone earlier this year after colliding with another skater, this year, Glenn won it all.

“The fear of not being accepted is a huge struggle for me,” she told Dallas Voice in 2019 after coming out. “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.”

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