Out Olympian Adam Rippon Announced To Receive HRC Visibility Award

HRC Announces Olympian Adam Rippon will Receive Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner

Speakers and special guests also include out gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy, Representatives Maxine Waters and Kyrsten Sinema, Teri Polo and Sherri Saum from “The Fosters,” Josh Duhamel from “Love, Simon,” Grammy Award-winning rock band “Portugal. The Man,” and many more

Out gay Olympian ADAM RIPPON to receive honors from Human Rights Campaign

WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, announced that out gay Olympian Adam Rippon will be honored with the organization’s Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner this Saturday, March 10, 2018. Special guests also include out gay Olympian and past HRC honoree Gus Kenworthy, Teri Polo and Sherri Saum from ABC Family’s The Fosters, Josh Duhamel from Love, Simon, and many more. As previously announced, HRC-backed Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema and Representative Maxine Waters will speak and Grammy Award-winning rock band Portugal. The Manwill perform at the event.

“One word best describes Adam Rippon — fierce,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “By being out and proud, Adam is bringing LGBTQ visibility to a whole new level while capturing the hearts of millions around the world with his incredible talent and personality. He isn’t afraid to use his global platform to speak out for equality, and we are proud to honor him with the HRC Visibility Award at the 2018 HRC Los Angeles Dinner.”

Adam Rippon made history as the first openly gay U.S. American male figure skater to compete in the Olympic games. Rippon publicly sparred with Mike Pence in the press and on social media, bringing a new focus on Pence’s long anti-LGBTQ record. Rippon publicly voiced his concern over Pence leading the diverse U.S. delegation to the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview with HRC, Rippon said, “At first, I had a few hesitations to come out, because I was afraid of repercussions that it might have. But at the end of the day, I felt like it was important, and it was an opportunity to shine a light on a subject that was bigger than me. I know when I was coming out I drew strength from learning about other people’s stories and hopefully my story will do the same for others.”

The HRC Los Angeles Dinner brings together more than 1,000 of HRC’s most active members and supporters in the greater Los Angeles area to raise crucial funds in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Media interested in covering the event should email stephen.peters@hrc.org to request media credentials. Due to limited space, only members of the media who have been credentialed in advance will be allowed entrance.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community.