Conor McDermott-Mostovoy would like to take part in the Winter Olympics in Cortina in Milan. And he definitely has the talent, desire and ambition for this.
What he lacks is money.
“You can definitely reach six figures,” said David McFarland, McDermott-Mostowy's agent, about what a speed skater needs each year to live and train while chasing his Olympic dream.
Finding that money has become increasingly difficult over the past year because McDermott-Mostovoy is gay. Since President Trump returned to the White House in January, bringing with him an agenda, hostile to diversity, equality and inclusion, Sponsors who once supported LGBTQ+ athletes and causes have turned their backs on the likes of McDermott-Mostovoy, with devastating consequences.
“There’s definitely been a noticeable shift,” said McFarland, who has represented straight and gay athletes for decades in a range of sports, from the NFL and NBA to professional football. “Many brands and performance opportunities that used to highlight LGBTQ athletes are now being pushed back or disappearing entirely.”
“And this is not just a symbolic partnership,” he added. “These are vital income-generating opportunities that help athletes finance training, compete and secure their livelihoods.”
The impact is felt in many sports, where sponsorship money often makes the difference between winning or failing to compete. But this is especially acute in individual sports, where athletes are a brand and its unique attributes—size, appearance, accomplishments, and even gender preferences—become what attracts or repels fans and financial backers.
“What's most frustrating is that these decisions are rarely about performance,” McFarland said. “This is about the perception of the LGBT community. And this fear-driven retreat hurts everyone involved because, in addition to the human cost, it is also very short-sighted. The LGBT community and its allies represent a multi-trillion dollar global market with enormous purchasing power.”
Travis Shumake the only openly gay driver on the NHRA circuit, had a career-best five races in 2022 and said he once had deals with major brands like Mission Foods, Procter & Gamble and Kroger, while using a rainbow-colored parachute to slow his dragster down.
Kroger is the only one whose support has not yet waned, and as a result, Shumake had to leave his car in a trailer for the last eight months of the year.
And when he raced, his parachute was black.
Travis Shumake competes in the NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in November 2024.
(Mark Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“It looked very upbeat and bright,” said Shumake, who spends about $60,000 on the engine and up to $25,000 on each dragstrip run. “Being the only LGBTQ racer would be very beneficial. I ended last season with plans to do six to eight races. There were great conversations with big, big companies. And now I've done one race entirely based on funding.”
“When you're asking for a check for $100,000,” he added, “it's very difficult for these brands to take that kind of risk for a weekend where there could be serious backlash because of my sexual identity.”
A sponsorship manager for a Fortune 500 company that previously supported Shumake said he was not authorized to discuss the decision to end its relationship with the driver.
Daniel T. Durbin, director of the Institute for Sport, Media and Society at the USC Annenberg School, said there could be several reasons for this. For example, the economic downturn has led to tightening of sponsorship budgets. But there is no doubt that the White House's messaging has had a chilling effect.
“It certainly complicates the climate around this issue because advertising and promotion related to social change has been criticized by the Trump administration,” Durbin said.
In addition, corporate donors who once supported diversity, either out of conviction or convenience, saw the election results as part of a repudiation of that.
“We could piss off 50% of the population if we go down this route. Do we really want to do that with our brand?” Durbin spoke about the conversations that corporations are having.
Abandoning issues like LGBTQ+ rights does not necessarily mean that these corporations were once progressive and are now hypocrites. For many, the only color of the rainbow they care about is green.
“You’re trying to give philosophy to people who don’t have it,” Durbin said. “And even if they believe in the goals, they are not going to self-destruct their company by doing something they believe in. They are going into this business partly because they believe it will have a positive impact on the bottom line.
“That's how it works.”
As a result, others have had to step up efforts to try to fill the funding gap. Our Athletes Fund, The 501(c)(3) organization was recently formed to provide financial assistance and other support to LGBTQ+ athletes. McDermott-Mostowy was the first to receive a check after a November event in West Hollywood raised more than $15,000.
“We're here to help cover their expenses because a lot of other people don't,” he said. Sid Zeigler, member of the group's founding council and co-founder OutSport, sports news site dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues.
This shift from wealthy corporate sponsors to private individuals giving pocket change threatens to derail the careers of athletes like McDermott-Mostovoy, who relies on his family and modest income. United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Scholarship for most of his living and education expenses. And with him turning 27 before the Cortina Olympics open in Milan in February, he may not be able to wait for the pendulum to swing back for another chance at becoming an Olympian.
“I'm 99% sure I'm suitable [food] “What really saves us every year is travel. Almost all of our expenses are paid upon arrival. [with] team.
“If I hadn’t made it to the World Cup in a year, I would have been broke.”
McDermott-Mostowy is pitching his past success and Olympic potential to sponsors, not the fact that he's gay. But that's what makes it stand out; if he qualifies for Milan Cortina, he will be one of the few openly gay athletes on Team USA.
“I've always been very open about my sexual orientation. So it wasn't a debate,” he said.
“I've definitely heard from my agent that behind closed doors a lot of people say, 'Oh, we'd like to support gay athletes. But now is not the best time to make this our public face.”
This debate is not new, although it has evolved over the years. Figure skater Amber Glenn, who last year became the first queer woman to win the US Championships, remembers that gender preference was a big topic of discussion ahead of the 2014 Games in Russia, where public support for LGBTQ+ expression is banned.
“At that point I wasn’t out yet, but I was thinking, ‘What would I do? What would I say? – Glenn said. “In the future, I hope we can get to a place where people can compete as they are and not have to worry about it.
“Figure skating is unique. We have more acceptance and more community in the queer space. That's not true for all sports. We're definitely making progress, but we still have a long way to go.”
Conor McDermott-Mostowy hopes to compete for the U.S. speed skating team at the Cortina Olympics in Milan in February.
(Dean Mukhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
In the meantime, athletes like McDermott-Mostovoy and Shumake may have to find ways to reintroduce themselves to find new sources of support.
“I'm not going into hiding again,” said Shumake, who decided to rent out his dragster to regular drivers next year rather than leave it parked and face bankruptcy. “It just might not be the main storyline at the moment. I'm trying a bunch of different ways to tell the story, rebrand it.”
“It was weird to watch,” added Shumake, who once called himself the fastest gay man on Earth. “I know it will come back. I'm also afraid, did I make the right choice when I had the Grindr partnership and had the rainbow parachutes? Did I get too strong?
“I chose to be a gay racer and this is just a slight slowdown. I don't think I need to blame myself. It's just the fear that people have at the moment.”
Fear that comes at a cost to athletes who can least afford to pay.
