The Winter Olympics may be over for another four years, but the Paralympics have only just begun, and this time there are more out LGBTQ+ athletes than ever before.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Games start on March 6 and run through March 15, with a total of 665 athletes from 50 countries competing.
At the Winter Games, there are six out LGBTQ+ disabled athletes competing in five different sports, all hoping to take home a gold medal for the two countries with queer representation on their teams: Team USA and Team Great Britain, Out Sports reports.
Out queer athletes crushed at the 2026 Olympics, where they won 11 medals, and these Paralympic athletes are hoping to do the same thing.
So here is a look at every out LGBTQ+ Paralympian who has stated, confirmed in interviews, or displayed on their social media their out and proud life. Let the Winter Games begin!
Jo Butterfield - Curling (Team Great Britain)
Jo Butterfield may be a star curler now, but she won her first gold medal at the Paralympics in club and discus throw at the 2016 Summer Games. In 2022, the athlete switched things up and started competing in wheelchair curling, and at the Milano Cortina Games, Butterfield is competing in the mixed doubles wheelchair curling.
Jackie Hamwey - Snowboard cross and Banked Slalom (Team USA)
Jackie Hamwey
Elsa/Getty Images
Massachusetts snowboarder Jackie Hamwey is making her Paralympics debut at the Milano Cortina Games, where she’s competing in snowboard cross and banked slalom for Team USA. Her first time competing comes just a decade after a boating accident required the amputation of her right leg from the knee down.
Jake Adicoff - Cross-Country Skiing (Team USA)
Jake Adicoff
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Gay visually impaired athlete Jake Adicoff is a four-time Paralympic medalist who previously competed in 2014 and 2018, taking home a gold medal and three silvers in cross-country skiing. Adicoff is the only Paralympian being sponsored by the Out Athlete Fund, which supported six LGBTQ+ athletes across the Olympics and Paralympics.
Hailey Griffin - Alpine Skiing (Team USA)
After a car accident in 2019, Hailey Griffin began her adaptive sports journey that led her to the 2026 Paralympic Games. The para alpine skier is making her Paralympic debut at the Milano Cortina Winter Games for Team USA where she’s hoping to take home gold.
Mikey O'Hearn - Alpine Skiing (Team USA)
Mikey O’Hearn was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a congenital condition that causes joint contractures and affects muscle development throughout the body, but that hasn’t stopped him from competing at an elite level. O’Hearn started skiing at age 3 and will be making his Paralympic debut at the Milano Cortina Winter Games in para-alpine skiing (men's standing events).
