This Adam Rippon Valentine wins Valentine’s Day. Every other card can go home.

Heart breaker

by Jeff Taylor / Social Media Editor on February 14, 2018

Olympic medalist Adam Rippon is winning hearts for his athletic prowess, good looks and bravery at taking on the anti-LGBTQ Trump administration.

Fan Grant Brady went the extra mile to show his love for the openly gay figure skater. Rippon posted the Valentine on Instagram with his approval.

“HAPPY V DAY FAM,” he wrote, with a heart emoji. “Here for this fan art.”

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HAPPY V DAY FAM ❤ – Here for this fan art @grantbrady

A post shared by Adam Rippon (@adaripp) on

Rippon started getting extra attention when he criticized the choice of Pence to lead the Team USA delegation, considering his anti-LGBTQ record. 

He said he wasn’t interested in meeting Pence, and added that he wouldn’t be attending the White House celebration. Fellow gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy, who will attempt to win his second Olympic medal this weekend, after winning a silver in 2014, said that he will also skip the event. He attended the celebration when former president Barack Obama was in office. Kenworthy came out as gay in 2015.

Rippon said he would “do something positive,” and has suggested he might hold a pro-gay rights event. 

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“I can’t tone it down. I’m being me and being myself,” he said. “I’ve got so many messages from kids all over the country — I’m getting so emotional thinking about it — I think that’s why it’s so important. I think as an athlete I use this platform to my advantage. I think it’s giving my skating a greater purpose.”

But he has been quick to add that he doesn’t want his whole Olympics to be about his feud with Pence. He would rather be known for “his amazing skating and being America’s sweetheart,” he told the press.

One thing’s for sure, plenty of people are sweet on him. 

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Posted by Jeff Taylor / Social Media Editor

Jeff Taylor is a journalist and artist. In addition to QNotes, his work has appeared in publications such The Charlotte Observer, Creative Loafing Charlotte, Inside Lacrosse, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He graduated from the State University of New York at Brockport and has lived in Charlotte since 2006.@jefftaylorhuman.

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