Meet Amber Glenn, first openly LGBT female figure skater on Team USA – who criticised Trump
The Texan star athlete just helped the US win gold at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, but has faced ‘scary’ threats online after criticising the Trump administration
The 26-year-old is also the first openly queer woman in Olympics ladies’ figure skating to compete while coming out during her career.
Here’s everything you need to know about Amber Elaine Glenn.
She has been skating since she was five
Glenn was born in October 1999 and raised in Plano, Texas. She began skating when she was five years old after watching American figure skater Sarah Hughes win the 2002 Winter Olympics.
She struggled with her mental health
Being in the spotlight as a skater from a young age, Glenn has been candid about her mental health and struggling to cope with public criticism. “I was being judged online from the age of 12, not just for my performances, but also for my appearance and athleticism, and that took a toll,” Glenn recalled in an interview with NBC Sports in January.
She came out in 2019
Glenn came out as bisexual and pansexual in 2019 in an article by the Dallas Voice that was covering fellow figure skater Timothy LeDuc, who had become the first openly out athlete to win a US title in pairs skating. Glenn, a friend of the skater, was quoted supporting LeDuc and publicly identified herself as queer for the first time.