Another professional athlete has come out.
Joining the ranks of the other pro athletes who’ve come out in 2020 is Dutch rower Maarten Hurkmans. 22-year-old Hurkmans has already had a long career in sports. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, Hurkmans competed on the 2016 rowing team. With them, he won both a Pac-12 and an Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship. Outside of school sports, Hurkmans has won several Dutch national team medals and a medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championship. Hurkmans was also expected to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, but the event has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While waiting for that competition to commence, Maarten Hukmans announced on Instagram that he’s bisexual. He shared this announcement by first asking his followers, “Are you your unapologetic self?”
For Hurkmans, he says he’s very open about himself and his life to those who know him intimately.
“I have a clear presence, you can always read my mood straight of my face, and I can be the absolute worst morning person,” he stated before announcing to the world, “I am also bisexual, something that I consider to be an important part of who I am.”
Maarten Hurkmans then acknowledged that he’s fortunate to come from a loving household and have met great support from his teammates.
“I am very lucky to have brought up by amazing parents in an open and accepting environment, and luckily, I have never experienced my sexuality as much of a burden,” he revealed.
Wishing to act as a role model for other athletes, sports fans, and the general public, Hurkmans then shared the message that being LGBTQ is “nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community does not make you less masculine, or able to compete and win. In the end, we all line up at the same starting line with the same anticipation as we endure those final minutes before the start. Equally tense and ready for the green light.”
