As most might know this past weekend was the start of the Winter Olympics in South Korea with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday and the events beginning in the following days. While I was watching some of the events today that included the figure skating competition I found out that among the winners was Eric Bradford, one of the first openly gay skaters to win at the Olympics. I found this to be very interesting mainly because of the fact that there have been so many Olympic events and Olympic athletes that have come and gone over the years and this was the first openly gay one to medal in an event.
Also, as I continued to scroll through social media, read other articles and look deeper into this I came across many tweets and articles that contained writers, among others questioning why it Radford's sexuality mattered in the first place. I disagree with claims like this because I personally think that the fact that he is gay is very important in taking steps toward the right direction for inclusion among all people in the United States. Radford having the courage to be openly gay at such a prestigious event like the Olympics paves a way for other athletes that might still be "in the closet", or for the younger generation of athletes who might be too scared to embrace their sexuality by showing them that being LGBT should not hold them back from going to accomplish anything that they have set out for themselves.
I would like to know other people's thoughts on this situation! Here's the link to the article that I read:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43035476
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