Josh Dixon comes out as gay, aims for spot on Olympic gymnastics team
Josh Dixon comes out as gay, aims for spot on Olympic gymnastics team
The United States has never had a publicly out male gymnast participate in the Olympics outside of equestrian events. Gymnast Josh Dixon hopes to be the first.
The Stanford grad took a big step toward that goal at the U.S. Mens Qualifier on Saturday in Colorado Springs, finishing second overall out of the 72 competitors. He also tied for wins in two events: floor exercise and high bar. It was a game-changing come-back performance for Dixon, who tore his Achilles tendon last spring.
Now Dixon is talking about his personal life and sexual orientation publicly for the first time. Like charging at the vault, hes coming at it at full speed.
Dixon and his two sisters were all adopted at birth by Michael and Kathy Dixon. While the three children were born at different times, they share the same birth mother, whom none of the family has ever met. It was through his sisters that he first discovered gymnastics.
The Dixon household was diverse: Josh is half-black and half-Japanese, while his father Michael is white and his mother Kathy is Japanese. Maybe it was the multicultural household he grew up in, but Dixon never felt his early crushes on boys were wrong. Still, he didnt talk about those crushes because he was immersed in gymnastics from the time he hit puberty.
http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2012/05/06/josh-dixon-comes-out-as-gay-aims-for-spot-on-olympic-gymnastics-team/