Gus Kenworthy switches from team US to Great Britain for 2022 Olympics
Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy has announced he is switching teams. Having represented the US in two former Winter Olympics, Kenworthy, 28, says he will switch to represent Great Britain from 2020.
His application to switch to GB Snowsport was approved Tuesday by the International Ski Federation.
This means he will likely compete to represent Britain in the 2022 Winter Olympics, which he expects will be his last.
Kenworthy was born in Chelmsford, England. His family relocated to Colorado in the US when he was three. His mother is British and he holds a British passport. He lives in Los Angeles.
In an Instagram posting, Kenworthy said: “I am very excited to announce that I will be competing for Team GB on the road to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“Although I was raised in the US I was born in the UK and my mum is British through-and-through. She has been my #1 fan for my entire life and has proudly stood at the bottom of the mountain waving the stars and stripes in support of me for two Olympic cycles.
“Now, in what is sure to be my last Olympic appearance, I’d like to return the honor by proudly holding up the British flag for her.”
Kenworthy came out as gay in 2015. He is one of the most high-profile athletes in the US and has gone on further his career into acting, appearing in the most recent season of American Horror Story.
His news has prompted a huge response from friends and fans.
Actor Johnny Sibilly (Pose), posted a response on Kenworthy’s Instagram saying, “Honor them roots baby!”. Actor Matthew Morrison (Glee) posted, “Happy to see you shred it in any capacity. So much respect for you, brother!”
Brit singer Sam Smith posted a crying and heart emoji at the news, while fellow GB athlete Tom Daley posted, “Oh. So we are team mates now ”
Many expressed pride and happiness for Kenworthy and applauded the gesture to his mom.
“What a beautiful way to honor her! You can never replace the special place a mother holds. She will be even more proud of you!”, said @mateogil.
However, a few disgruntled sports fans questioned his loyalties.
“I’m sorry but it’s a bit disrespectful,” commented @jpcon92. “E pluribus unum, we are second to no one. I come from Mexican parents, but will never love any other country more than America.”
Kenworthy won a silver medal for the US at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In an interview with BBC Newsbeat, he denied that he was switching teams because he feared not being chosen by the US team to compete in 2022 in Beijing – but acknowledged it would probably be easier to qualify for Britain.
“I have no doubt in my mind that I could go back for the US but this is definitely going to be a much smoother approach for me,” he said.
“This gives me a path where I’m not taking a place away from one of my friends in the US.”
He told PA News agency: “I think this is going to be my last Games, kind of like my swansong, and I just wanted to do it for my mum.”
He says after representing the US in 2014, the 2018 Winter Olympics, “was actually less about representing the US as much as it was representing the LGBT community and it was the first time that the US had two openly gaymen competing – Adam Ripon and I were those two guys.
“I was kind of skiing for the rainbow flag.
“This time around I feel like it’s my last games and I want to do it for my Mum, so in a way I feel like I’ve represented three different flags at three different games.”
Coldplay’s Chris Martin opens up about the time he questioned whether he was gay
Grammy winner Chris Martin, of the band Coldplay, has opened up about questioning his own sexuality, and about the homophobic bullying, he endured in school.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, 42-year-old Martin recalls attending boarding school in his native UK, and feeling a bit homophobic himself.
“When I went to boarding school I walked a bit funny and I bounced a bit and I was also very homophobic because I was like, ‘If I’m gay, I’m completely f*cked for eternity’ and I was a kid discovering sexuality. ‘Maybe I’m gay, maybe I’m this, maybe I’m that, I can’t be this,’” Martin said.
The singer went on to detail his own experiences with bullying when classmates would call him “‘definitely gay’ in quite a full-on manner.” The harassment only added to his own confusion over his sexuality.
Fortunately for Martin, his thinking has progressed beyond that of a bullied 15-year-old. Over time, he began to question his own homophobia and why being gay was so bad in the first place.
“I don’t know what happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, so what?’ and then it all just stopped overnight,” he recalls. “It was very interesting. Once I was like, ‘Yeah, so what if I’m gay.’”
As a result, he also began to question his religious beliefs.
“[It] made me question, ‘Hey, maybe some of this stuff that I’m learning about God and everything — I’m not sure if I subscribe to all of this particular religion,’” he says.
“So for a few years, that was a bit wobbly and then eventually I just was like, ‘OK, I think I have my own relationship with what I think God is and it’s not really any one religion for me.’”
Martin’s admissions come just ahead of the release of Coldplay’s latest album, Everyday Life.
The complicated lives of the Drewitt-Barlows has taken another twist. The wealthy gay dads rose to fame when they became the first same-sexcouple in the UK to be legally recognized as joint parents 20 years ago.
The two men became dads to twins through the use of a surrogate in the US. Commercial surrogacy is not allowed in the UK. The men have since gone on to father three more kids. They relocated to a mansion in Tampa, Florida, in 2017.
The men, with a combined wealth of over $45million, and their kids have been featured on TV documentaries and have often commented on news shows on matters relating to surrogacy.
However, last week it was revealed that one of the dads, Barrie, 50, had decided to split with husband, Tony, 55, after falling head over heels for the ex-boyfriend of his 19-year-old daughter, Saffron. The two men had been together for 32 years.
Besides dating Saffron, the younger man, Scott Hutchison, 25, was Barrie’s personal assistant for seven years. He is bisexual and says he never actually had a sexual relationship with Saffron.
Barrie says that his relationship with husband Tony became more platonic around 2006 when Tony began undergoing gruelling treatment for cancer. He is currently in remission.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about his new relationship, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow says he is still living in the same house as his former partner and kids – along with Hutchinson. He says all involved are accepting of the change in circumstances.
“I don’t want there to be any secrets and I want to get any negativity out of the way before our babies arrive,” confided Barrie.
“Yes, it is unorthodox, but we are a loving family and our priority is to have a stable home for our kids and what is now an extended family.
“It works for us – and if people are shocked, well that’s their problem, not ours.”
He says that although he wasn’t planning to become a father again, Hutchinson is keen to enjoy parenthood. Having made part of their fortune from running their own surrogacy advisory service, Barrie thought: why not?
“Scott has always wanted to have a child of his own so I said if he wanted us to be parents together, I would support him in that and have a baby with him.”
They now plan to use their sperm to fertilize an egg each. They will take advantage of sex-selection procedures, “in the hope that we could try for daughters – princesses to spoil.”
This photo of male students posing naked with sheep made vegans very upset
We all love a good sexy calendar, but the student body at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the UK took the concept a bit too far for some.
A photo featuring seven veterinarians-to-be posing naked with sheep elicited strong condemnation from a vegan activist group, so much so that the school issued a formal apology and vowed to remove the photo from the upcoming calendar.
In the photo, the students are using a technique called “tipping,” which under normal circumstances allows vets to examine parts of the sheep that aren’t usually visible. In this case, they’re using it to cover their genitals.
In a Facebook post, the Veterinary Vegan Network (VVN) called the photo “deeply disturbing.”
The post was eventually deleted, however, as several commenters began writing threatening messages aimed at the students.
Stuart Reid, RVC’s principal, apologized but said there was “no place for harassment or threats.”
“It is with a rather heavy heart that I pen this note to a rather wider readership than I might have anticipated,” he said. “For a number of years, the RVC student body in final year have produced a calendar, a proportion of whose proceeds go to nominated charities.
“There can be no denying that in more recent times these activities have started to divide opinion, both within the RVC community and in wider society.”
“No student is being blamed, individually or collectively, and we will work together to ensure these events do not happen again,” he added.
“To those who have taken offence at the calendar, I apologise. It may have fallen short of the standards some expect in terms of animal welfare, but that responsibility is mine. The complaints and attacks should be directed to me and me alone.”
We won’t pretend you didn’t read this story hoping to see the photo, so here it is:
Black, queer poet describes ‘How to Come Out as Gay’ in incredible poem
Dean Atta, a writer named one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK by the Independent on Sunday and dubbed “one of the UK’s finest poets” by Time Out London, contributed a poem titled “How to Come Out as Gay” to this year’s anthology Proud.
And in this PinkNewsvideo, Attas reads his poem as The Black Flamingo, “a character I’ve created to celebrate being black and queer.” (The Black Flamingo is also the title of his debut novel, published this August.)
“Being black and queer means being doubly fabulous!” he says with a laugh. “But also, the intersections of homophobia and racism do affect me.”
He explains that he belongs to many communities he feels “very empowered by and supported by, where I found so much strength and see that so many people have struggled in order for me to stand proud as a black, gayman.”
“For me, coming out was kinda incidental to liking a boy and wanting to ask him out on a date or to be my boyfriend,” he reveals. “And I got rejected. He said no. But I was then out.”
“The thinking behind my poem … is advice I would give to my 15-year-old self. I wanted to send the message that there’s no right way to come out or no right time to come out. It’s just when you feel ready.”
Here are more of Atta’s words to the wise, transcribed from his reading of the poem:
“Don’t come out unless you want to. Don’t come out for anyone else’s sake. Don’t come out because you think society expects you to. Come out for yourself. Come out to yourself. Shout, sing it, softly stutter.”
“Being effeminate doesn’t make you gay. Being sensitive doesn’t make you guy. Being gay makes you gay.”
“Don’t worry: It’s okay to say you’re gay and later exchange it for something that suits you, fits, feels better.”
“Be a bit gay. Be very gay. Be the glitter that shows up in unexpected places.”
“Remember, you have the right to be proud. Remember, you have the right to be you.”
WATCH: People are losing it over this ‘Drag Race UK’ contestant’s Donald Trump impression
RuPaul‘s Drag RaceUK arrived at the iconic “Snatch Game” episode this week, with remaining queens asked to drag up their best celebrity impersonations and arm them with zingy one-liners for a “Match Game” parody.
The Vivienne, a queen many see as a frontrunner, had three options up her sleeve — singer Cilla Black, and TV personality Kim Woodburn, and Donald Trump.
Watch her in action below and catch a glimpse of some other stand-out Snatch Game performances:
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK streams on WOW Presents Plus Thursdays at 12pm PT/3pm ET (day and date with its BBC premiere), and airs on Logo Fridays at 8pm ET/PT