Sports
Two trans nonbinary athletes make history
Fans around the world celebrate Nikki Hiltz and Quinn
Canada is gearing up for its second match in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, facing Ireland Wednesday with transgender nonbinary trailblazer Quinn expected back on the pitch. Last week, Quinn made history by playing in the team’s opener against Nigeria, without even scoring a goal; They are the first out trans nonbinary player to compete in soccer’s international championship.
Ten thousand miles away in Monaco, trans nonbinary sprinter Nikki Hiltz set a new U.S. national record on Friday that has stood for nearly 40 years. Although they finished in sixth place, the Aptos, Calif., native ran the mile in four minutes, 16.35 seconds, breaking the mark of 4:16.71, set in 1985 by Mary Slaney.
These two trans nonbinary stars are being celebrated in each of their sports. Earlier this month, Hiltz, 28, became the first out trans nonbinary athlete to win a USA Track and Field national title, as the Los Angeles Blade reported. Part of the joy that came with the win was having the TV commentators get their pronouns right, as they shared on Instagram.
After setting the record in Monaco, Hiltz wrote on Instagram: “There’s a lot of things I could probably attribute my recent successes to, but I think the most powerful tool I have is my joy,” they wrote. “Queer people can thrive when we make a space for them, love them and embrace them for who they are.”
Quinn, 27, shared a post on Instagram about their part in a new corporate initiative from GE Appliances, “See Them, Be Them.”
“I remember some of my favorite memories growing up were the opportunities I had to see my role models playing on the world stage and I’m so excited to be experiencing the other side of that now,” they captioned the post, which shows them talking with young soccer players. “We need more opportunities for girl and gender diverse soccer players to see their future in the sport.”
Fans of Quinn and Hiltz have added comments full of accolades, many sharing that their successes brought them to tears. “So much kudos for the incredible visibility you’re creating,” said a fan of Quinn’s. Another fan wrote to Hiltz, “You are such an inspiration for queer runners. Thank you for everything you do!”
But of course, history for trans athletes is not made without detractors adding their angry voices, too.
Quinn’s social media is especially targeted by negative commenters misgendering them and wrongly presuming they transitioned from male to female. On Monday, a politician in Nigeria posted what used to be called a tweet on the X platform, accusing Canada of cheating by having Quinn on its team.
“Canada cheated in their [match] against Nigeria at the FIFA Women’s World Cup game by featuring this MAN that they called ‘transgender,’ giving them an obvious advantage,” wrote Babatunde Gbadamosi, who is a former gubernatorial candidate in Lagos state.
“This game should be awarded to Nigeria along with all three points. Nigeria would have won that game EASILY if Canada did not have the advantage of an extra player. Our 11 women played against 12 Canadian women, because the man has to count as two women.”
Gbadamosi is calling for Nigeria and all African nations to boycott the Women’s World Cup because of “men pretending to be women.”
Other than Quinn, however, none of the nations taking part this year has an out trans or trans nonbinary athlete competing in the Women’s World Cup.
There are reports that there are as many as 100 or more out LGBTQ competitors and coaches, including the USWNT’s Kristie Mewis, Kelley O’Hara and two-time champion Megan Rapinoe. Autostraddle called this “the most openly queer sporting event in history.”
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
Italy
Olympics Pride House ‘really important for the community’
Italy lags behind other European countries in terms of LGBTQ rights
The four Italian advocacy groups behind the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ Pride House hope to use the games to highlight the lack of LGBTQ rights in their country.
Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano organized the Pride House that is located in Milan’s MEET Digital Culture Center. The Washington Blade on Feb. 5 interviewed Pride House Project Manager Joseph Naklé.
Naklé in 2020 founded Peacox Basket Milano, Italy’s only LGBTQ basketball team. He also carried the Olympic torch through Milan shortly before he spoke with the Blade. (“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie last month participated in the torch relay in Feltre, a town in Italy’s Veneto region.)
Naklé said the promotion of LGBTQ rights in Italy is “actually our main objective.”
ILGA-Europe in its Rainbow Map 2025 notes same-sex couples lack full marriage rights in Italy, and the country’s hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity. Italy does ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, but the country’s nondiscrimination laws do not include gender identity.
ILGA-Europe has made the following recommendations “in order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Italy.”
• Marriage equality for same-sex couples
• Depathologization of trans identities
• Automatic co-parent recognition available for all couples
“We are not really known to be the most openly LGBT-friendly country,” Naklé told the Blade. “That’s why it (Pride House) was really important for the community.”
“We want to use the Olympic games — because there is a big media attention — and we want to use this media attention to raise the voice,” he added.
Naklé noted Pride House will host “talks and roundtables every night” during the games that will focus on a variety of topics that include transgender and nonbinary people in sports and AI. Another will focus on what Naklé described to the Blade as “the importance of political movements now to fight for our rights, especially in places such as Italy or the U.S. where we are going backwards, and not forwards.”
Seven LGBTQ Olympians — Italian swimmer Alex Di Giorgio, Canadian ice dancers Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, Spanish figure skater Javier Raya, Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson, and Irish field hockey and cricket player Nikki Symmons — are scheduled to participate in Pride House’s Out and Proud event on Feb. 14.
Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood representatives are expected to speak at Pride House on Feb. 21.
The event will include a screening of Mariano Furlani’s documentary about Pride House and LGBTQ inclusion in sports. The MiX International LGBTQ+ Film and Queer Culture Festival will screen later this year in Milan. Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood is also planning to show the film during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Naklé also noted Pride House has launched an initiative that allows LGBTQ sports teams to partner with teams whose members are either migrants from African and Islamic countries or people with disabilities.
“The objective is to show that sports is the bridge between these communities,” he said.
Bisexual US skier wins gold
Naklé spoke with the Blade a day before the games opened. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will close on Feb. 22.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are competing in the games.
Breezy Johnson, an American alpine skier who identifies as bisexual, on Sunday won a gold medal in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, on the same day helped the U.S. win a gold medal in team figure skating.
Glenn said she received threats on social media after she told reporters during a pre-Olympics press conference that LGBTQ Americans are having a “hard time” with the Trump-Vance administration in the White House. The Associated Press notes Glenn wore a Pride pin on her jacket during Sunday’s medal ceremony.
“I was disappointed because I’ve never had so many people wish me harm before, just for being me and speaking about being decent — human rights and decency,” said Glenn, according to the AP. “So that was really disappointing, and I do think it kind of lowered that excitement for this.”
Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny shares Super Bowl stage with Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga
Puerto Rican activist celebrates half time show
Bad Bunny on Sunday shared the stage with Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif.
Martin came out as gay in 2010. Gaga, who headlined the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, is bisexual. Bad Bunny has championed LGBTQ rights in his native Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“Not only was a sophisticated political statement, but it was a celebration of who we are as Puerto Ricans,” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade on Monday. “That includes us as LGBTQ+ people by including a ground-breaking superstar and legend, Ricky Martin singing an anti-colonial anthem and showcasing Young Miko, an up-and-coming star at La Casita. And, of course, having queer icon Lady Gaga sing salsa was the cherry on the top.”
La Casita is a house that Bad Bunny included in his residency in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, last year. He recreated it during the halftime show.
“His performance brought us together as Puerto Ricans, as Latin Americans, as Americans (from the Americas) and as human beings,” said Serrano. “He embraced his own words by showcasing, through his performance, that the ‘only thing more powerful than hate is love.’”
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