Cheryl Maas, a Dutch snowboarder is the first Olympic athlete to make a statement regarding her stance on gay rights at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Maas was on her second run during slopestyle when she messed up. The camera’s cut to the 29 year-old snowboarder anticipating her score.
Upon scoring, she resigned to the fact that she did not make the finals and would have to try again during the semis on Saturday. Maas threw her gloved hand up towards the camera showing off her rainbow and unicorn glove. Maas is a happily married lesbian, her gesture was likely related Vladimir Putin’s recent anti-gay propoganda bill which outlaws “non-traditional sexual practices” from being promoted in public.
After Maas qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics, she criticized the International Olympic Committee for hosting the Olympics in gay-unfriendly Russia.
Maas is one of six openly gay atheletes that is competing in the Sochi Olympics, and will likely not be the last to make a statement regarding LGBT rights during the games.
