Danell Leyva, Olympic gymnast and one of the United States’ shining stars today after winning two silver medals, in June recorded a powerful video in support of the LGBT community. In it the three-time Olympic medalist (he won a bronze in London) wears a “Make America Gay Again” shirt and talks about, among other things, the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom of their gender identity.
“Recently there has been much said about trans rights and the danger people fear they may pose if they are allowed to use whatever bathroom they wish,” Leyva said in the video. “These people of course are wrong about any danger, and these attacks remind us that the danger comes from bigotry, not the victims of it.”
He turned his rant to the mass shooting in Orlando in June, where 49 people were killed the gay bar Pulse.
“The love within the LGBT community is so much stronger than the hatred against it,” Leyva said, “and it is our responsibility as non-LGBT people to emulate this love and create a world where LGBT people don’t need to crate their own safe spaces. That is a promise I’m making.”
Sorry guys, we know you were hoping for a different ending, but it is still amazingly cool that Leyva would step out so fiercely for LGBT equality.
