Figure skating is more open to LGBTQ athletes than ever. This N.S. Olympian never lived to see it

In the 35 years since Halifax figure skater and Olympic bronze medalist Rob McCall died from AIDS-related complications, the sport he loved has changed dramatically.

Where McCall and many of his gay peers were once expected to keep their sexuality hidden from public view, these days, an increasing number of skaters are openly embracing who they are.

These athletes include Canada’s Paul Poirier, who came out in 2021 and won an Olympic bronze medal with his longtime ice dance partner, Piper Gilles, on Wednesday. They skated to RuPaul’s Supermodel, an unambiguously queer 1990s anthem.

“I think it was just fabulous, especially to see it on the Olympic stage,” said Ryan Stevens, a figure skating historian who has written extensively about the sport’s LGBTQ history.

Few elite skaters were out in 1980s, 1990s

While there have always been gay figure skaters, between the 1980s and 2000s, few world class figure skaters were out.

McCall, who won an Olympic bronze medal with his partner, Tracy Wilson, at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, was no exception.

His close friend and first skating partner, Marie McNeil Bowness, who won a Canadian championship with McCall in 1981, remembers when he first opened up to her about his sexuality, a few years after they began skating together.

“I was 15 and we were on an airplane one time and he just came out and talked to me about it,” she said earlier this month. “I think it probably took a lot of weight off his shoulders.”

In the insular, close-knit world of elite figure skaters, McCall’s sexuality wasn’t a secret, but it never became part of his public persona.

Back then, there was a fear of how being out might affect a skater’s career, including possible endorsements and prejudice from judges.

In a 1988 Calgary Sun article, a Canadian figure-skating insider said “We accept the trappings of homosexuality, but don’t allow the humanity. Skaters who bring along their lovers to competitions have to pretend they’re cousins.”

Male figure skaters hit hard by AIDS

The AIDS crisis had a devastating affect on the sport.

“There were actually over 70 coaches, choreographers, skaters and people in the skating community from around the world that passed away as the result of AIDS-related illnesses, and it’s not talked about,” said Stevens, who has compiled a list of those lost on his Skate Guard blog.

At the time of McCall’s death, he was planning a fundraiser for AIDS research.

It took place the next year in his honour and raised over $500,000.

More than three decades later, McNeil Bowness and Stevens say the toll the crisis had on skating is rarely acknowledged in any official capacity.

“It’s really, really hard and I don’t think there’s an answer as to why,” said Stevens.

But one only needs to look towards the success of a duo like Poirier and Gilles to see how the sport has evolved in the decades since McCall’s death.

“A big reason the sport has become much more accepting and so much more progressive is because the people that are in charge have changed,” said Stevens, who points to Skate Canada’s recent push for inclusion and vocal support of transgender athletes as proof.

On Wednesday’s Olympic broadcast, the pair could be seen anxiously awaiting the results after completing their final skate in Milan.

The broadcast soon, however, cut to the crowd.

In the stands was Poirier’s fiancé, cheering him on for all the world to see.

“[Poirier] will be accepted because of who he is,” said McNeil Bowness. “It’s great for him to be that role model and I think it’s nothing but positive for those others in our sport and everywhere to see it.”

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