RUDY GALINDO
(born September 7, 1969)
I can still remember sitting in front of the TV in 1996, watching Rudy Galindo take the ice at the US Figure Skating Championships. His free skate to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was nothing short of breathtaking.
At the time, I didn’t know much about his story.
I didn’t know he’d grown up in a trailer park in San Jose, or that he’d faced so much grief—the death of his father, his brother, and his coach; the heartbreak of losing so many family and friends to AIDS, and the loss of his longtime skating partner, Kristi Yamaguchi, when she left pairs competition to pursue singles.
Their separation nearly ended his career, yet it also forced Rudy to stand on his own and discover the brilliance of his solo voice on the ice.
I didn’t know then that he was stepping into that arena as an openly gay Latino man in a sport that rarely embraced outsiders.
Even without knowing all the details,I knew I was watching history being made. His performance wasn’t just athletic—it was raw, powerful, defiant, and beautiful.
When I read about Rudy’s background and all the obstacles he overcame, his performance took on even greater meaning for me.
Rudy wasn’t supposed to win. He wasn’t supposed to be a champion in a sport so often associated with privilege, money, and a very narrow image of who could succeed. Yet there he was, skating with both grace and grit, claiming a space that wasn’t designed for him.
For me—and for so many LGBTQ people—Rudy’s victory became more than a medal. It became proof. Proof that being openly gay doesn’t mean dimming your light. Proof that your background doesn’t have to dictate your future. Proof that authenticity, even in the face of prejudice, can be its own reward and triumph.
Rudy went on to turn pro, performing around the world for years before becoming a beloved skating coach.
There’s a beautiful coda to Rudy’s story: years after he and Kristi Yamaguchi parted ways as skating partners, life brought them back together when Rudy became the coach for Kristi’s daughter.
From loss and separation to reconnection and mentorship, it’s a full-circle moment so poetic it almost feels like fiction—but it’s real life.
When Rudy raised his arms at the end of Swan Lake, he wasn’t just finishing a program. He was telling every queer kid watching that they, too, could stand in the spotlight and be celebrated—not in spite of who they are, but because of it.
That night, Rudy Galindo didn’t just skate into history. He skated into our hearts as a trailblazer, a survivor, and a symbol of what’s possible when you refuse to hide.
Keep calm and skate on!
Clint 🌈✌️
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ICYMI = IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
MONDAY = Remembering Labor Days Past #3
TUESDAY = Back To Life...Back To Reality
WEDNESDAY = My Life As A Former Caveman
THURSDAY = The Virus Of Virality
FRIDAY = Come On, Get Happy (Hour)!
SATURDAY = The (Mighty Real) Life + Times Of Sylvester
ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 7
BIRTHDAYS
1860 = Grandma Moses = American painter
1894 = George Waggner = American actor, director, and producer
1909 = Elia Kazan = Greek-American actor and filmmaker
1912 = David Packard = American engineer and Hewlett-Packard co-founder
1913 = Valerie Taylor = American author 🌈
1917 = Jacob Lawrence = American painter and educator
1923 = Peter Lawford = English-American actor
1925 = Laura Ashley = Welsh-English fashion designer
1926 = Don Messick = American voice actor (died 1997)
1926 = Samuel Goldwyn Jr. = American director and producer
1932 = John Paul Getty Jr. = American-English philanthropist and book collector
1936 = Buddy Holly = American singer-songwriter
1937 = John Phillip Law = American actor
1939 = Latimore = American singer-songwriter
1943 = Gloria Gaynor = American singer-songwriter
1947 = Peter Wheatley = English Anglican bishop 🌈
1950 = Julie Kavner = American actor
1951 = Chrissie Hynde = American singer-songwriter
1954 = Corbin Bernsen = American actor
1954 = Michael Emerson = American actor
1956 = Diane Warren = American songwriter
1956 = Michael Feinstein = American singer and pianist 🌈
1957 = Jermaine Stewart = American singer-songwriter 🌈
1964 = Eazy-E = American rapper and producer
1966 = Toby Jones = English actor
1967 = Leslie Jones = American comedian and actor
1969 = Angie Everhart = American actor and model
1969 = Rudy Galindo = American figure skater 🌈
1970 = Tom Everett Scott = American actor
1973 = Alex Kurtzman = American filmmaker
1973 = Shannon Elizabeth = American model and actor
1976 = Oliver Hudson = American actor
1978 = Devon Sawa = Canadian actor
1980 = J.D. Pardo = American actor
1984 = Ben Hollingsworth = Canadian actor
1987 = Evan Rachel Wood = American actor 🌈
1988 = Paul Iacono = American actor 🌈
1989 = Jonathan Majors = American actor
2006 = Ian Chen = American actor
EVENTS
1630 = The city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded.
1911 = French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.
1921 = In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
1927 = The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Farnsworth.
1979 = "Video Killed the Radio Star" is released by the Buggles as a single.
2001 = One of the world’s first LGBT-focused channels, PrideVision TV, is launched in Canada. It is now called OUTtv.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“As hackneyed and cliche as it sounds, follow your heart. We are all given intuition and instincts, and sometimes it is hard to follow those instincts with the fears and pressures that surround us - but you have to do it.”
Michael Feinstein
✅✅✅ Cheers DougT 🇫🇴🇬🇧
Thank you for your comments. We all need to be reminded that those who helped us be recognized as men who are as good as any other man are an essential foundation to how we are viewed today.
Having grown up when being gay was considered a mental disease and a choice, I always thank those who showed the world that gay men are just as real and meaningful as any other man.