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12 October 2016 11:57 AM

Gus Kenworthy celebrates National Coming Out Day with a kiss – and an important message

By Will Stroude

Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy celebrated National Kissing Day by posting a photo of him and boyfriend Matthew Wilkas to Instagram.

The 25-year-old former Attitude cover star, who was one of the first men from the world of action sports to come out, also reminded his followers that coming out isn’t something that can be rushed.

“The objective of this day, first and foremost, isn’t to force anybody out of the closet,” he wrote. “That’s something you should do on your own time, when you feel safe, and when you are ready.”

He continued: “Instead, today serves as a reminder not to let yourself be bullied into silence. A reminder to each of us to live our truest lives.”

Sharing his own reflections on coming out, which he did in 2015, he added: “I can honestly say the best thing I’ve ever done for myself was taking the time to acknowledge my sexuality and then taking the leap of faith to come out. A

“At some point the pain of holding onto the charade became greater than the fear of letting go and I’m happier than I’ve ever been because of it.”

Happy #NationalComingOutDay, everybody! The objective of this day, first and foremost, isn’t to force anybody out of the closet. That’s something you should do on your own time, when you feel safe, and when you are ready. Instead, today serves as a reminder not to let yourself be bullied into silence. A reminder to each of us to live our truest lives. A life we each define for ourselves, rather than one lived in fear or by other people’s expectations. I can honestly say that the best thing I’ve ever done for myself was taking the time to acknowledge my sexuality and then taking the leap of faith to come out. At some point the pain of holding onto the charade became greater than the fear of letting go and I’m happier than I’ve ever been because of it. Thankful everybody who came out before me and helped pave that road to make my trip a smooth one, hopefully it will be an even less bumpy ride for everybody in the future! ️‍

A photo posted by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on

Read Gus’s post in full below:

Happy #NationalComingOutDay, everybody! The objective of this day, first and foremost, isn’t to force anybody out of the closet. That’s something you should do on your own time, when you feel safe, and when you are ready. Instead, today serves as a reminder not to let yourself be bullied into silence. A reminder to each of us to live our truest lives. A life we each define for ourselves, rather than one lived in fear or by other people’s expectations. I can honestly say that the best thing I’ve ever done for myself was taking the time to acknowledge my sexuality and then taking the leap of faith to come out. At some point the pain of holding onto the charade became greater than the fear of letting go and I’m happier than I’ve ever been because of it. Thankful everybody who came out before me and helped pave that road to make my trip a smooth one, hopefully it will be an even less bumpy ride for everybody in the future! ️‍

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