Adam Rippon Opens Up About Homophobia He's Faced

Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon has become a powerful role model for young LGBTQ people. But even he faces homophobia.

In a recent interview with Attitude, Rippon opened up about his experience with discrimination. One instance took place on the streets of New York.

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"I was walking in New York City and was holding my boyfriend's hand," he said. "Some guy came up to us and said, 'I hate f*****s', then ran away. I just said, 'That's so sad that somebody would still want to do that.'"

He also opened up about the homophobia he received during the Olympics. Most of it came from fellow Americans. It drove him to fear tweets with American flag emojis.

"When I was at the Olympics, and this shouldn't be the case, but every time I got a tweet or a message that had an American flag in their name, I was always hesitant because it was almost always a nasty Trump supporter," he said. "It was always somebody who had something bad to say about me, which is awful because I was representing their country at the Olympics, and I don't even want to open a message that has my own country's flag...It was always something nasty, and it was always something homophobic, but it doesn't bother me because I'm very comfortable and very confident with who I am, and they're not."