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Kenworthy reiterated his disdain for the administration and talked about the importance of being out on CBS This Morning.
Out Olympic freeskier Gus Kenworthy has "no patience" with the Trump-Pence administration, he said today on CBS This Morning, reiterating that, like gay skater Adam Rippon, he won't go to a White House reception after the winter games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
"When we have people elected into office that believe in conversion therapy and are trying to strip trans rights in the military and do these things that are directly attacking the LGBT community, I have no patience," he told interviewer Don Dahler. "I am so proud to be from the U.S. and to be from a country where you are able to voice your political opinions and stand up for what you believe in, and I think that when you have a platform, you have to use it, especially if you feel very strongly about something."
Kenworthy also about the difficulties of being in the closet, as he was at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where he won a silver medal. "Competitors, even friends that would say things that were so homophobic and I don't think that they realized necessarily the impact that it was having on me, because I was in the closet," he said. And when, after he won his medal, a reporter asked him to name his celebrity crush, and not wanting to name someone of the same sex, he hurriedly said Miley Cyrus.
"And I was really feeling burdened being in the closet," he said. "I think before that, I was kind of like lying by omission, but then when you're actually lying. ... It made me resent myself and made me realize that I didn't want to be ashamed of who I was. ... I wanted to just be able to be me." The following year he came out on the cover of ESPN's magazine.
Being a role model for LGBT kids is important, Kenworthy said. "When I was a kid, my life would've been easier if I had someone that was in my position, that was out and gay and proud and successful in their sport. .... But not having that, I think I realize the need for that and the importance of it and so I want to be that person," Kenworthy said. "I wanna be able to be a beacon of light for young kids in sports."
"Hearing people tell me that it's made it easier for them to accept themselves ... to tell someone they were gay or whatever their different story is, like, that's what makes me feel like I've done something right," he continued. "So I think it's the most important thing I've ever done."
At the same time, he doesn't want to be strictly defined by being gay. "After Sochi, I was like the dog guy," he said, referring to his rescue of stray dogs. "Now I'm the gay guy, and it's fine by me. But I'm looking forward to the day when it's like 'the Olympic medalist' or whatever and then further into the conversation maybe it's revealed that I'm gay but it's not the defining characteristic."
Kenworthy previously discussed these topics in a recent digital cover story for The Advocate. He called his former boyfriend, Robin Macdonald, the "unsung hero" in the dog rescue mission -- although he was unable to discuss his relationship at the time. "I would say my 'friend' Robin is doing this, but he just wouldn't get included in the write-up," Kenworthy said.
Watch below.
