Happy New Year! My “Top 10” blogs of 2022

This year, I am updating this New Year’s blog tradition …. since the 2022 top 7 blogs were all published in prior years, I am going to add the top three 2022 published blogs at the end to now make this a “Top 10.”

Yes – my top seven most read blogs were published in earlier years.  I guess as more people read them, they come toward the top on google searches and get even more readers.

The top seven all received over 1,000 hits each; five of the 7 dealt with some general aspect of diversity, and three of the 7 dealt with diversity within sports. 

Here are the seven most read of 2022, starting with number 7 and working up to number one. At the bottom I will add the top 3 read blogs that were actually published this year.

7) This year’s number 7 was last year’s number 6 – a guest blog written in 2018 by my cousin Brandon, who has a masters degree in social work and now works in the Federal Prison System while pursuing his PhD in social work at the University of Kentucky – Five Misconceptions about Atheists from my Experience: A guest blog by Brandon G.

6) This year’s number 6 was last year’s number 4 – “Three Wonderful Recent Examples of Diversity and Sports,” in which I provide short summaries with links about an NFL football player with one hand, an WNBA player who is a new mother with her wife, and a college track star who overcame a harsh abusive upbringing in Africa.

5) First time in the top seven is “Active Listening Skills of Influential Leaders” published in March 2020.

With figure skating now being so much a part of my life, I am pleased my diversity and skating blogs are so well read.

3 and 4) With over 5,000 hits across the two blogs were 2018’s Seven More Fabulous Out Gay Men of Figure Skating (and One Bisexual Woman) and my 2016 personal labor of love which included several personal photos that I took, “Seven Fabulous Out Gay Men of Figure Skating.”  And my 2022 installment was my top blog actually published in 2022 – see below.

2) And another newcomer to this year’s list was a guest blog written at the end of 2020. As diversity, equity and inclusion becomes increasingly important in the workplace, “Five Tips for Highlighting Your Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion in Your Resume: Here’s How” can prove to be a valuable resource for job seekers.

1) With the growing number and visibility of Hispanic Americans, number one for the second year in a row with over 6,000 hits – “Seven Misconceptions or Stereotypes of Hispanic People”, a guest piece written in 2016 by my part-time bilingual consultant on staff, Elsa Maria Jimenez Salgado.

Two of my most popular 2022 published blogs dealt with the increase in nonbinary people and use of pronouns

Since none of the few dozen blogs I wrote in 2022 made it into the top seven, here are the 2022 written top 3:

2022 Number 1 – With 2022 having been an Olympic year, I wrote the 3rd installment of my very popular blog series, “Seven more fabulous out LGBTQ+ athletes of figure skating.” This is the most diverse group ever – includes 3 women and one non-binary athlete from 3 countries and across all 4 figure skating disciplines (women, men, pairs, ice dance.)

2022 Number 2 – A more personal blog a tribute to one of my Millbrook High School teachers who recently passed away – Vickie Tart Burlington aka Miss Tart.

2022 Number 3 – This blog is about one of the hot emerging areas in diversity, equity and inclusion and one of the most requested topics I got ask to speak on during LGBTQ Pride Month this year: “Nonbinary People and the Use of Pronouns – 6 Points and Resources.”

I wish all of my faithful readers a happy and fulfilling 2023.  To stay in touch and to receive my monthly newsletter in which I summarize all blogs written in the previous month, please do subscribe to my newsletter. Or check out this page to connect to my LinkedIn or business Facebook page.

Seven more fabulous out LGBTQ+ athletes of figure skating

Two time US pairs figure skating champion and 2022 Olympian Timothy Leduc (tall person in the middle who has recently come out as nonbinary) with their pairs partner Ashley Cain- Gribble, my parents and me.

This blog is loaded with links to explore! Please do explore them.

Since 2022 is a Winter Olympics year, it is now time for my third installment of this series. My first installment published in 2016 was titled “Seven Fabulous Out Gay Men of Figure Skating” and my second in 2018 was “Seven More Fabulous Out Gay Men (since retitled people) of Figure Skating and One Bisexual Woman.”

This year I am so pleased to now include more women in my series and also mention an out nonbinary Olympian! Actually there are 8 people cited in this blog since I include the first out LGBTQ ice dance team as one.  In my first installment of this series I profiled 7 men, but now this one includes 4 men, 3 women and one nonbinary person! Three cheers for increased diversity!

Important Note 1: This blog only features athletes who voluntarily, personally and publicly disclosed themselves as LGBTQ.

Important Note 2: Why does this matter? Given the historic stigma and non-acceptance of LGBTQ people in many parts of society, it is important to profile out LGBTQ role models to demonstrate the success and excellence of LGBTQ athletes.

In alphabetic order:

Here I am flanked by US champions Gracie Gold and Jeremy Abbott

Jeremy Abbott – This soft spoken 4-time US men’s champion is remembered for his guts and determination in completing his program at the 2014 Olympics after a horrendous fall and slamming into the boards with high impact. His getting up and completing his program was gritty, phenomenal and inspirational. Link to article about this performance.

Kevin Aymoz – This 5-time French national mens champion known for his innovative moves and emotional performances was one of 6 Olympic French athletes who all “came out” together during 2021 LGBTQ Pride Month (link to article) leading up to the 20221 summer and 2022 winter Olympics.

My parents and me with Jason Brown at 2019 Skate America

Jason Brown – This US nationals men’s champion and now two-time Olympian is one of the most beloved figure skaters around the world for his always positive attitude and friendly interaction with fans everywhere. Most skating pundits agree that Jason is the world’s most artistic skater and he almost always receives the highest program component (artistic) score when he competes.

Amber Glenn – This elegant and athletic American skater came out as pansexual (being romantically, emotionally and/or sexual attracted to people regardless of their gender) in late 2020 and then in 2021 finished with her best ever US nationals competition by winning the silver medal.  (Link to Amber’s story)

Timothy Leduc – This two-time national pairs champion and now 2022 Olympian with their partner Ashley Cain-Gribble gets a second inclusion in my series. Why? Timothy recently and boldly came out as nonbinary (see my recent blog about nonbinary), becoming the USA’s first out nonbinary Olympic athlete (see article about this.)

It was so cool to meet Karina Manta and Joseph Johnson after their fabulous “Sweet Dreams” ice dance at 2019 US Nationals

Karina Manta and Joseph Johnson – Karina Manta and Joseph Johnson’s rendition of “Sweet Dreams” (link to video) received a standing ovation at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Their performance was one of the highlights of the 2018-19 season, and they were the only athletes invited to the Skating Spectacular who did not medal at U.S. Nationals. Karina in her hot leather mini-skirt played the seductress to the clean cut sweet and innocent Joseph.  They now perform with Cirque du Soleil

Kaitlyn Weaver – It is wonderful to see more women in figure skating coming out as queer. Kaitlyn and her ice dance partner Andrew Poje competed 13 year for Canada, winning three medals at worlds and competing in two Olympics. Sadly, Kaitlyn stated when coming out that she did not so during her competitive career for fear of it negatively affecting her scores.  Link to an article that includes Kaitlyn and Jason Brown.

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Blog author Stan Kimer, in addition to training as an adult competitive figure skater himself, is a career development and diversity consultant with a deep expertise in corporate LGBTQ diversity strategy and training. Please explore the rest of my website (which includes my own figure skating page) and never hesitate to contact me to discuss diversity training or consulting for your organization, or pass my name onto your HR department.