When 21-year-old diver Anton Down-Jenkins walks out to the pool side at the Tokyo Olympics in July, not only will he be flying the New Zealand flag, he’ll be flying the rainbow flag too.
Down-Jenkins is the first male diver to represent New Zealand at the Olympics in 37 years. He’s also an active and vocal member of the LGBTQI+ community.
He’s vocal because he hopes to normalise the inclusion of the rainbow community in sport.
“There isn’t enough LGBTQI+ representation in the [sport] media, which is why I felt the need to bring it forward and to publicly announce that I am a member of the LGBTQI+ community, I want to be that representation. I want people to see that I’m out here,” he said.
“I’m thriving. I’m competing at the highest level of sport that you can and there just needs to be more of it.
“For sport to be a safe place there needs to be more representation in the media. It needs to become more normalised.”
