Olympic gymnast Danell Leyva has come
out publicly.
Leyva competed for Team USA in the 2012
and 2016 Olympic Games.
In a series of posts last month on
National Coming Out Day, Leyva said that while he was “absolutely
terrified” to talk publicly about his sexuality, it was the right
time.
“For a long time I’ve known that I
wasn’t straight,” Leyva, 28, wrote. “But because of certain
very personal reasons, I always rejected that side of me. Earlier
this year I finally understood that I’m bi/pan (still trying to
figure that one out) but...”
"I also realized that, as of now
at least, I’m not attracted to cis men. (That comes with those
personal reasons I just mentioned). But I felt that it was time for
me to finally share this with you all.”
"As most of you can imagine, this
is absolutely terrifying...”
"One of the main reasons why I’ve
never come out publicly is because throughout my life, for whatever
reason, other people’s perception of my own sexuality have always
been imposed onto me and it has always made me reject it even more.
It made me uncomfortable. Not because...”
"I was offended, because being gay
is in no way offensive, but more so because it was and always has
been/felt very intrusive.”
"So this post, apart from being my
way of sharing this with you all is also a reminder.....”
“A reminder to check the way we say
certain things to people. Because sometimes our hearts and intentions
may be in the right place, but we never truly know what they’re
dealing with.”
"I love you all. Happy
#NationalComingOutDay,” he added.
Leyva won a bronze medal at the 2012
Olympics and two silver medals at the 2016 games.