Is Amber Glenn LGBTQ? USA figure skater opens up about bisexual-pansexual status

The U.S. figure skating team's hopes of ending their 20-year Olympic medal drought in women's singles will fall primarily on the shoulders of Amber Glenn during the 2026 Winter Games.

Glenn is something of an anomaly amongst her peers. Whereas most figure skaters step away from the sport by the time they reach their mid-20s, Glenn, 26, is at her peak. The Plano, Texas native claimed three straight national championships from 2024-26, becoming the first American woman to accomplish such a feat since Michelle Kwan in the mid-2000s.

Glenn has lightning in her skates. She's one of just four American women to land a clean triple axel in international competition. Her performances, marked by aggressive turns, depth-defying leaps and effortless whirls, has already made her a hit on the world stage.

In addition to her on-ice success, Glenn is also proving something of an important figure for a different reason. She's the first openly LGBTQ woman to represent the United States in the Olympic singles figure skating.

Here's what you need to know about Glenn's coming out story, a journey that has helped inspire many onlookers in recent years.

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Is Amber Glenn LGBTQ?

Glenn is, indeed, a member of the LGBTQ+ community. She is bisexual and pansexual, revealing her sexuality during an interview with the Dallas Voice at the end of 2019.

A two-time national champion, Glenn was tipped for success at a young age. As a teenager, she stepped away from the ice, seeking treatment for depression, anxiety and ADHD. Glenn returned to action in 2016, training alongside a host of teammates, including Timothy DeLuc, the first openly non-binary Olympian to compete in the Winter Olympics.

DeLuc served as an inspiration for Glenn, whose athletic style of skating has made her a hit among American audiences.

"They lived as themselves, and I felt safe with them," Glenn said of DeLuc, according to NBC 5 Dallas Fort Worth. "I saw the struggles they went through competing in a sport that’s very much like, you’re A or B. They were really inspiring to me."

Buoyed by DeLuc's example and the desire to chart a path forward for women figure skaters, who haven't come out as LGBTQ+ nearly as often as men, Glenn publicly acknowledged her sexuality for the first time in Dec. 2019.

“The fear of not being accepted is a huge struggle for me,” Glenn said. “Being perceived as ‘just a phase’ or ‘indecisive’ is a common thing for bisexual/pansexual women. I don’t want to shove my sexuality in people’s faces, but I also don’t want to hide who I am.”

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Amber Glenn on coming out

Glenn wasn't sure what the response would be from the wider figure skating community when she came out. However, her first competition back following her announcement -- the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships -- offered a good taste of what was to come.

When Glenn took to the ice, she was greeted by a number of pride flags. The moment stuck with the then-20-year-old, who placed fourth with a clean showing.

"I remember skating my first competition after coming out and seeing pride flags in the audience," Glenn said. "People were cheering louder than ever. I almost started crying before I even skated. It was one of the most emotional performances of my life. I felt so free."

That freeness -- and those billowing rainbow flags -- have trailed Glenn in the years since her announcement.

"The stories I’ve been told that something I did, something I said, and being who I am publicly, unapologetically has helped them feel better, that outweighs any sort of backlash or anything that could ever come negatively from me being who I am," Glenn told The Today Show's Carson Daly in 2025. "It’s one of the reasons why I kept skating even when I might not have been seeing the results I wanted."

Pansexual vs. bisexual meaning

While the definitions can be fluid, pansexuality generally refers to people who feel attraction to anyone, including people who don't identify as a specific gender. The term is expansive, with pansexual people often finding people from across the spectrum of gender attractive. It's important to note that pansexual people aren't attracted to all people -- one wouldn't call a heterosexual man attracted to all women, and vice versa.

Bisexuality, as defined by Sussex Rainbow Counseling, indicates that a person is attracted to one or more genders. Bisexual people can be attracted to more than two genders -- a bisexual person might be interested in men, women and non-binary people, as well as both cisgender and transgender people. But it's a bit less expansive than pansexuality, which is when a person is attracted to people from all genders.

"For this reason bisexuality is different from pansexuality but falls under the bisexual umbrella," Sussex Rainbow Counseling wrote.