It would be easy to think that the memory that sticks with Amber Glenn the most from the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships is her chilling, near-perfect short program. Or her free skate, where she left the ice with thoughts of what could have been.
But the 20-year-old from Plano, Texas, can't stop thinking about the people she met in Greensboro, North Carolina, this past January, the members of the LGBTQ+ community – and their allies – that approached Glenn with a simple, two-word message: "Thank you."
"What is really inspiring to me [is] the amount of support I got not just for my skating but for who I am," she said recently in an interview. "I had people coming up to me telling me they felt more comfortable in coming out. They were telling me how excited they were for me and that they were so happy that I could stay true to who I was."
Having come out as bisexual to her friends and family in the last two years, Glenn shared her sexual orientation with the media late last year and was inundated with support from fans – in figure skating and beyond.
She wasn't sure, however, how she'd be received stepping on the ice for the U.S. Championships, marking her first competition since publicly coming out.
"I felt like I had a lot more eyes on me than I'm used to," she said.
As Glenn wrapped up a 73-point short program (putting her in fourth place), a smattering of pride flags unfurled in the crowd as the audience took to its feet. "It was so cool… there were tons [of flags]," she said, adding that she had taken note of them before she began her program. "Someone handed a pride flag to me at the Friends of Figure Skating breakfast [on Sunday]. I have it hanging on my closet door now, wink wink."
The 2014 U.S. junior champion, Glenn knows she is not the first in the sport to come out as LGBTQ+, nor will she be the last, but the impact she'd like to have is weaved into those subtle moments: The pride flags, the interactions at the donor breakfast, the mom-and-daughter duo who approached her in the hotel lobby just to say thanks.
In an emotional conversation, the mid-teen girl shared with Glenn that reading her story gave the girl the strength to come out to her mom.
"She finally felt comfortable. It made me cry," Glenn said. "Hearing all of these stories made me want to do better for them. I think they're inspired by my skating and my strength for saying who I am. It was so sweet.
"I don't have it the hardest [in life], but it made me want to inspire them. It reminded me: I'm a woman in the LGBTQ community and I can be one of the top skaters in this sport. This doesn't limit me — and it shouldn't. And my message is: It won't limit you, either."
Timothy LeDuc, Glenn's training mate in Dallas, also has blazed trails as an out gay athlete. They also served as a mentor of sorts for Glenn as she's tried to navigate her sexual orientation and the coming out process, which she said can be particularly tricky for someone who identifies as bisexual.
"I can't even describe to you how helpful Tim has been," she said. "Tim is not just a role model, but a guide. They helped me feel comfortable for who I am. They understood. They're so accepting. A role model, yeah, but in life overall, not just skating."
Glenn, too, has slowly accepted that "role model" status even if she doesn't readily see herself as one. The U.S. Championships in January could be the first time – at least from a LGBTQ+ perspective – that she truly stepped into those skate boots, and (though she wanted a better outcome than fifth place overall) she saw the weekend as a riling success.
For her as a person.
"There are so many people in the skating community that don't have supportive family or media acceptance [like I do]," she said. "Them seeing that it had such a positive outcome for me, that it got me a lot of positive feedback, I think that might help some people in the future be more comfortable with themselves."
Weeks after her emotional weekend in Greensboro, she made her first appearance at Four Continents, where she said she felt even more confident. She couldn't help but notice another pride flag, this one a surprise to her as the competition was held in South Korea. She later connected with the fan (an American) on Twitter.
"Wanted to make sure you knew how much fans appreciate you," fan Courtney Milan, an author from Colorado, posted.
Glenn, who was sixth at Cup of China last fall and won the bronze medal at the 2019 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, said she felt as though she was nearing some of the best skating in her career as the season was cut short in March, with the Egna Spring Trophy – set for the week after Worlds – being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glenn is undeterred, however, and continues to stay in the best shape possible as ice time and training facility access has been limited during the pandemic.
She is as motivated as ever by what she can do on the ice, and what that could mean for her – and others – off of it.
"I had parents coming up to me and saying, 'Our little girl felt so alone and now … she wants to be like you,'" she said. "It makes me want to work harder to be at the top of skating. I want them to want to be like me not just because of my sexuality, but also because of my achievements. I want to inspire them to do that as well."
