First openly LGBT dance team competes at US figure skating championships

The first openly LGBTQ competitive ice dance team competed at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships over the weekend. 

Ice dancing partners Karina Manta and Joe Johnson made history when they performed at the annual event in Detroit, according to NBC News. The news outlet notes that Manta, 22, and Johnson, 24, skated to the pop song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” and finished in 7th place. 

Charlie White, an Olympic gold medalist in ice dancing, told NBC News that the duo have challenged traditional gender norms for the sport. 

”It’s easy to see the same thing over and over again when it’s a man and a woman telling a love story,” White said. “When you have a team that doesn’t portray a romantic relationship for any reason, they’re forced to consider new ways to tell their story. That opens up new doors, new pathways.”

Manta expressed optimism in an Instagram post in October that ice dancing was “making space for new approaches, new forms of art, new types of people.”

View this post on Instagram

My heart is so full today. Joe and I didn’t have the best scores we’ve ever received, but oh my gosh, I couldn’t be leaving this event feeling more proud of what we’ve accomplished. I didn’t start ice dancing until I was 16, and I was nearly 17 by the time I first got a partner—late to begin a career in this sport by any means. I spent years growing up just watching Skate America as a fan. But, in the last few years, I’ve seen skaters that I only ever thought I would see on TV become my competitors and my friends, and I’ve been given the opportunity to compete on this stage that seemed like only a dream for so long… And this weekend, I was able to take the ice completely as myself. Short hair. Bright lipstick. A body that I (mistakenly) never thought looked like what I believed ice dancers could look like. I think this sport is making space for new approaches, new forms of art, new types of people. I like to think Joe and I are both trying to keep widening the space in our own ways, alongside so many teams who are pushing our art form in a hundred beautiful ways. It’s an exciting thing to feel a part of. The space here in Washington this week was incredible. This event gave me memories that I know I will hold onto for the rest of my life. A huge thank you for everyone who was a part of it. #SkateAmerica Pc: @ohnojj

A post shared by Karina Manta (@karinamanta) on Oct 21, 2018 at 11:03pm PDT

“I like to think Joe and I are both trying to keep widening the space in our own ways, alongside so many teams who are pushing our art form in a hundred beautiful ways,” Manta wrote shortly after coming out publicly. 

NBC notes that Manta and Johnson both came out publicly in 2018. Manta came out as bisexual in October 2018 in a video posted on Instagram. Johnson opened up about his sexuality later that month while speaking with OutSports, a site dedicated to covering LGBTQ athletes. 

Johnson said he never had a formal “coming out” moment. He said he instead “started talking about it on social media one day because it stopped being convenient to skirt around.”

“I certainly didn’t feel obligated. I do think that LGBTQ people having to come out to legitimize ourselves is unfortunate, because being both LGBTQ and a private person is like … a thing that some people are,” Johnson said.