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Gus Kenworthy & Adam Rippon Won't Be Visiting Trump's White House Anytime Soon
"I will not stand with people who discriminate against those that they perceive as different."
Athletes from the US Winter Olympic team were invited to the White House early Friday morning to celebrate their athletic achievements.
But two public figures were noticably absent from attendance: openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon (who quite firmly penned his sentiments with the Presidential visit on President Trump's favorite podium of communication, Twitter) and openly gay freeskier Gus Kenworthy.
\u201cOlympians from the 2018 Games have been invited to go to the White House today. I will not be going. I will not stand with people who discriminate against those that they perceive as different. In lieu of going to DC, I have donated to a few of my favorite causes \ud83d\ude46\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f https://t.co/qDXqswTHdF\u201d— Adam Rippon (@Adam Rippon) 1524840700
\u201cAll US Olympians and Paralympians are invited to visit the White House and meet the President after the Games. Today is this year's visit and USOC spokesperson says he's never seen so many athletes turn down their invites. The resistance is real. https://t.co/6mKJGicWDS\u201d— Gus Kenworthy (@Gus Kenworthy) 1524766999
Rippon openly feuded with Vice President Mike Pence for his questionable track record with LGBTQ rights before and during the duration of the Winter Games earlier this year.
Instead, Rippon spent Friday morning donating to LGBTQ friendly organizations in defiance, stating on social media:
\u201cIf you want to join me and you\u2019re able to give a little, go for it! I think when we\u2019re able to help each other out and do what we can to lift each other up, that\u2019s when we\u2019re truly making America great \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u201d— Adam Rippon (@Adam Rippon) 1524840700
