Illustration by Elza High
Sophia Allen
Lantern Staff
Several days before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, started, skater Adam Rippon and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence were already a part of the first piece of drama.
Rippon, one of the first openly gay U.S. athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics, criticized Pence for opposing LGBTQ+ rights and supporting conversion therapy, a practice that proponents claim can “turn” gay people straight, but has been discredited in the medical community. Rippon’s agent said that he had also declined an invitation to meet with the vice president before the games started.
Pence has responded saying that he does not support conversion therapy. He has said this many times in past interviews, but there is evidence to show that he does. For example, his 2000 congressional campaign website states “Congress should support the re-authorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions, which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.”
According to Rippon, Pence’s spokespeople also claimed that Pence never asked to meet in the first place. Regardless of whether or not Pence invited Rippon to meet, Rippon is making the right decision by not meeting with him at the informal gathering of the American athletes and delegation.
Why go out of your way to meet somebody who has gone out of their way to show that they think you are wrong or sick? This was Rippon’s reasoning when he talked to The New York Times over two weeks ago.
Conversion therapy has been conducted in several different ways, but mostly included extreme measures. While it has grown less extreme, conversion therapy still poses a serious threat to patients. With further research into conversion therapy, it was found that the practice did not work and more and more people stopped supporting it.
To someone who is gay, someone saying that they support conversion therapy can feel like they do not want to be, especially now that many people know that conversion therapy only causes harm.
While most Americans are LGBTQ+ friendly and the country takes pride in its equality and diversity, the United States does not place in the top 10 most gay friendly countries in the world. A main factor in this is each state having legislation. Southern states, most notably Texas, have more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, while northeasten and western states have more legislation that benefits the LGBTQ+ population.
While tradition can be important, especially at the Olympic Games, Rippon made the right decision not to meet with Pence. By not meeting with Pence, Rippon shows the tenacity of the LGBTQ+ community.