Adam Rippon speaks outside City Hall where he was honored with a proclamation on June 8, 2018. (Jillian Jorgensen / New York Daily News)
By Jillian Jorgensen
Originally posted in the New York Daily News on June 8, 2018
Figure skater Adam Rippon — the first openly gay athlete to compete for the United States in the Winter Olympics — was lauded as an inspiration at City Hall Friday by Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
“You’ve captured the imaginations and hearts of straight people and gay people and have shown us that through bravery, hard work and grace we can all become the best of ourselves,” Johnson, who is also gay, said. “But you are especially a role model to LGBT young people, a role model for these kids who want to be the next Adam.”
Johnson presented Rippon with a proclamation at the event, held in the midst of New York’s Gay Pride Month.
Rippon, who won a bronze medal at this year’s Olympics, became well-known for calling out Vice President Pence’s support of conversion therapy, and for dubbing himself a “glamazon bitch ready for the runway.”
“To so many LGBTQ kids out there who struggle hard to become comfortable and to become who they truly are, you have been the answer to their collective prayers,” Johnson said. “You are the larger than life, ready for runway glamazon b-word we need right now.”
Rippon said he didn’t think of himself as a hero.
Adam Rippon competes during the Men’s Single Skating Short Program on Feb. 16, 2018, in South Korea. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
“I don’t necessarily think that I’m brave or courageous. But I’ve thought about what people who I look up to, who my heroes are, why do I think that they’re brave,” he said. “And I’ve realized that bravery and courage, they come from a place of being confident, and they come from a place of being honest.”
Councilman Daniel Dromm, who noted he came out 45 years ago, lauded Rippon for doing so.
“Back then we would say invisibility is our biggest enemy. But in many ways invisibility still remains one of our biggest enemies,” he said. “And by you coming out, you have fought and you have made us visible and you have told people that even Olympians can be openly gay in this world.”
Council Jimmy Van Bramer recalled watching figure skating as a child with his mom and said Rippon, by being unafraid, gave others the same courage.
“When I was a kid growing up in Queens, never seeing an openly gay person who was powerful, strong, and unafraid, or portrayed in the media as someone who was good I could have used you when I was 9 or 10 years old,” Van Bramer said.
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