Photos by Jean Catuffe and Gage Skidmore
"So Brave!" is Broadly's new humor column in collaboration with the feminist satire site Reductress.This week, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted a message of support to Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, America’s first openly gay man in the Winter games. Pence tweeted, "I want you to know we are FOR YOU." Wow, super brave of Pence to show support of this Olympian despite working his whole career to dismantle this particular gay athlete’s fundamental rights!We have never been more proud to be Americans! Thank you for this mixed message that contradicts what you stand for in every way! But if that’s not enough to convince you of Pence’s blind courage, don’t worry—we’ve got more.Our increasingly chill and open-minded vice president has also used the Olympic games in PyeongChang, South Korea as a forum for grandstanding—and dare we say, protest?—about the US's relationship with North Korea.
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The whole saga started a few weeks ago, when Adam Rippon criticized the White House’s decision to send Vice President Mike Pence to South Korea to take on the ceremonial role of leading the United States delegation to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Rippon then chose not to attend the traditional gathering of American athletes who would meet with the Vice President before the games.Undeterred, Pence reached out to the skater to schedule a private conversation with him at the Olympic games, and honestly, we have to acknowledge the sheer courage it took for him to even offer to be in the same room as this American role model and professional athlete.That Pence, a man who will not eat dinner alone with any woman who is not his wife, was brave enough to call for a private meeting with this irresistible hunk of meat? It's just so incredibly heroic!Sure, Pence opposes same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws and his 2000 congressional campaign website called for the use of federal funding to treat people "seeking to change their sexual behavior." He's also said that gay couples signal "societal collapse," opposed the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and rejected Obama's 2016 directive to allow trans people to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. But he was willing to not only tweet a vague message of support to a gay Olympic athlete, but also to sit within three feet of pure, unadulterated gay athleticism.
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After tweeting things like, "even in the midst of the powerful background & idealism of the Olympics, the world is reminded of the truth about North Korea," the lionhearted Pence took it one step further, refusing to stand for the procession of Korean athletes during the opening ceremony. Honestly, we had never even thought of using symbolic national displays to protest something we fundamentally disagree with, but Pence is giving us a ton of inspiration here! Then again, he might have been distracted thinking about butt. We don’t really know for sure.During this year's historic Olympic Winter Games, we take this moment to admire a heroic and intrepid man, who boldly contradicted his own well-known belief system and spat in the face of American diplomacy in the name of making himself look a certain type of way. Mike Pence, you are SO BRAVE!!!!