Figure skating icons Gabriella Papadakis and Madison Hubbell are advocating for same-sex duos in official competitions and put on a moving performance at the Art on Ice Gala in Switzerland as part of their activism. On 8 February, they performed a rousing routine together, which was very well-received by the crowd, suggesting that their campaign is gaining impetus.
Papadakis is a five-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist from France, and Hubbell is an American with multiple Olympic and world medals to her name. They were once rivals within the sport; however, their seven-year connection has now brought them together to campaign for same-sex pairs. They started experimenting with the idea “for fun” at the Ice Academy of Montreal where they both trained.
Papadakis told AFP: “We realised it was brilliant, fun, and we thought: once we retire from competition, we should really give this a go.”
Initially, they saw same-sex pairings as a practical solution to the lack of male partners in the sport. However, they are also now campaigning for the wider social benefits of permitting same-sex duos, particularly in relation to LGBTQ+ ice skaters.
“It wasn’t our basic intention, but we realise what it can represent, what it can show, for us, it’s something that is close to our hearts,” Papadakis expressed. “I also realised while skating with Madison that there were codes that I had never really questioned all my life.”
Even though the sport remains fundamentally traditional, with ice dance and pairs competitions strictly regulated to include only male-female duos, in 2022, Skate Canada became the first governing body to allow same-sex pairs to compete at national level. This may trigger other countries to do the same, and change may also start to appear at international level.
One of the main goals of the campaign is to ensure that talent is the only thing that determines who gets to compete, regardless of gender or identity. “We want everyone to find their place on the ice,” Hubbell voiced.
So far, the International Skating Union (ISU) has shown no signs of revising its regulations, but the pressure is mounting.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, licensed for free use. For full license details, please see here.
