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By: Samuel Larochelle

In mid-February, Eric Radford made headlines around the world by becoming the first openly gay man to win Olympic gold at the winter games.  Now retired from competition, the adopted québécois is concentrating on “professional” skating, in addition to becoming a coach, choreographer and music composer. Over the next year, he will tour the world with Stars on Ice shows, plan his wedding, expected for summer 2019, with the newly retired skater Luis Fenero, and decide if he will move to Vancouver to work in the future skating school of his friend Patrick Chan or if he will get involved with his recent coach, Bruno Marcotte.

Despite his busy schedule, he took the time to sit down with us for over an hour to tell his story, three days after the end of the Olympics and two days before flying off to Australia where he is teaching a seminar with his partner Meagan Duhamel.

This is a translation of an article originally posted in the Quebecois LGBT magazine Fugues

Do you see yourself as a spokesperson for the LGBT community?

My outlook on this subject has changed a lot .  I am extremely proud of what I did in Pyeongchang and I feel that have a responsibility now.  I received a lot of messages from people thanking me for my courage.  Ironically, I don’t feel courageous.  I’m just trying to be myself.  Except the messages show that I am making a difference.  It’s an amazing feeling! It takes me back to my own experience: I think back to the years of intimidation that I felt and the absence of LGBT role models in my youth…

For a while I thought I was the only homosexual in my town and I asked myself “why is this happening to me?!” I didn’t see them on television either.  Nothing let me know that gays could be successful and find their place in the world.  If I had someone who inspired me, that would have helped me accept myself.  Today, I want to be that person for others.

Were you intimidated because you were figure skating or because people thought you were gay?

A bit of both.  I had mannerisms that could be considered more feminine and I talked with a lisp, which could be associated with a gay stereotype.  During my last year of elementary school, I was made fun of every day, without end, throwing insults at me associated with homosexuality.  A girl even asked me if my parents thought I was a girl since they had enrolled me in figure skating and gymnastics, two “girl’s sports”.

I remember thinking that it wasn’t my parents choice.  I wanted to do these sports.  So I wondered what was wrong with me that made we want to do that. I hated myself for a long time because of my sexuality.  Between 13 and 16, I was fighting my feelings and desires.

When did you come out to your family and friends?

Around 18 years old.  My friends had created a safe environment full of love that made me realize that they would love me no matter what I did or who I was.  I felt comfortable talking to them.  As for my parents, they only showed me love and support when I told them.  I was very lucky.  A couple days ago my friends told me that friends of theirs had troubles with their parents since coming out.  On the other hand seeing me on the news and seeing my parents encouraging me, it opened their eyes that homosexuality is not abnormal…

What convinced you to come out publicly years later, in 2014?

Before I never felt the need since those close to me and most of the people in the skating world knew.  I was in my bubble and I was focused on achieving my Olympic dream by qualifying for Sochi.  Then after the Olympic in Russia, a lot of things changed.  My partner Meagan and I changed our perspective on skating and the role that skating played in our lives.  We became more stronger, more anchored.  In the year following the Olympics, we were riding the momentum.  We were undefeated in competition. We knew who we were.  And the opportunity to tell my story in my own way at the right time presented itself.  I felt instinctively that I was ready.

I thought that the more athletes and public figures spoke openly about their homosexuality, the less it would become a big story over time.  I wanted to participate in this movement.

Recently, the skier Gus Kenworthy posted status showing the number of very violent homophobic comments he’s received since this publication of a photo showing him kissing his boyfriend at the Olympic Games.  Have you received insults like this since coming out?

In the past four years, no media has asked me about my homosexuality.  I was out quietly.  But last June when I shared a photo of my marriage proposal on social media, I received a lot of negative feedback.  Strangers told me I was going to get AIDS… I find it really bizarre that they follow me on Instagram and that they take the time to write me that.  There are really people that hate us and want to tell us so that we feel bad.  That said, during and after the Pyeongchang Olympics, I didn’t see anything negative.  My situation is very different to Gus’.  He is American.  He speaks about it much more that I do.  And he has at least 10 times more people following him.

What would you like to do with the LGBT community in the future?

In June, I will participate in the Pride Oslo at the invitation of the Canadian ambassador in Norway.  I would like to write a book on the connection between my experiences in sport and the process of accepting my sexuality.  I am a person who is introspective, analytical and very close to my emotions.  My friends tell me that I express myself well and that I need to share everything that I’ve experienced.  I want to give examples to younger people so that they can identify with someone and see how I managed to accept myself despite all the fears and anxiety I felt inside.