LGBTQ+ athletes are front and center at the 2026 Winter Olympics

in the beginning At the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, American figure skater Amber Glenn spoke at a press conference about using her platform as an Olympian to support LGBTQ+ rights. “It’s not the first time we’ve had to come together as a community,” she said. “I hope I can use my platform and my voice during these games to try to encourage people to stay strong.”

A few days later, she posted an Instagram story saying she received a “scary amount of hate/threats” after the comments on social media. “I’ve never had so many people wish me harm before, just for being me and speaking out about being decent,” she told NPR.

Glenn went on to win gold as part of the U.S. figure skating team — and she still has several individual events coming up — but the reaction to her comments shows real friction at the 2026 Games when it comes to celebrating gay athletes while also subjecting them to ridicule.

Nearly 50 athletes from the LGBTQ+ community are competing in the Winter Games, according to OutSports. This number may seem small compared to the 2,900 or so competitors, but compared to years past when every athlete made headlines, it is a huge number.

The growing number of LGBT athletes also comes at a time when the ability of trans people to participate in sports remains highly contested. A year ago, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from playing women’s sports. Following this order, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee banned trans women from competing in women’s sports. USA Hockey recently rescinded its 2019 policy that allowed transgender athletes to play, even in so-called “beer league” games.

“Protecting women’s categories is one of the key reforms we will pursue,” Mark Adams, spokesman for IOC President Kirsty Coventry, said at a press conference on February 7.

On Tuesday, Swedish skier Ellis Lundholm became the first transgender athlete to compete in the Winter Games. Lundholm, who competes in the women’s category, was assigned female at birth and identifies as male. Lundholm told reporters that he did not think much about his historic moment and was instead focusing on his sport. British skier Tess Johnson told The Associated Press that it is “awesome” that Lundholm is competing as the first trans athlete at the Winter Games. “I mean, we’re here to skate, we’re here to have fun, and that’s exactly what we do,” she added.

This increased interest in athletes comes from the LGBTQ+ community Hot competitionthe popular Canadian show about two closeted hockey players, is bringing hordes of new fans to the sport. HBO Max released the show in Italy this month.

On the ground in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, queer athletes and fans are searching for the same acceptance. And in Milan, they can find this at Pride House, a meeting and discussion space open to the whole city in the MEET Digital Cultural Centre. First staged at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Pride House was intended to be a safe space for LGBT people coming from all over the world to watch the Games. Every day the center provides a place to watch competitions and participate in meetings, shows and social events.

“Pride House was born as a safe place especially for athletes who come from countries that are not easy to come out of,” says Alice Ridelli, president of CIG Arcigay Milano, who helped organize Pride House with several other LGBT organizations. “Sports is one of the worlds in which we still struggle to be visible as LGBTQIA+ people, where concepts like gender and masculinity dominate.”

Having more athletes could help pave the way for more acceptance of gay competitors in future games where local laws guarantee those freedoms. “In Sochi in 2014, for example, it was not possible to organize the Pride House because of Russia’s repressive policies,” Ridelli says.