In commemoration of both Pride and the 50th year since the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City, Outsports is profiling one out athlete every day in June who embodies the courage of those who launched the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

We call that the “Stonewall Spirit.”

And the first athlete of 30 chosen by Outsports as a shining example of that quality is Chris Mosier, hall of fame triathlete, All-American duathlete, and a 6-time member of Team USA.

“If someone was to ask me, how do I identify myself,” Mosier said in an ad for Nike that aired on NBC during the Rio Olympics, “I’d say I was an athlete.”

Mosier is also the first out transgender man to make the men’s U.S. National Team, in 2015.

In 2016, Mosier was named Outsports Person of the Year, and as we noted at the time, he was also one of the finalists in 2015 for the Outsports’ Male Athlete of the Year Award, based strictly on athletic performance, a rare feat.

Even without competing in the Olympics, Mosier made an indelible impact on the games; his qualification to compete in the World Duathlon Championship put renewed pressure on the International Olympic Committee to adjust its trans policy, which it did in 2016.

While he is active in advocating for the cause of athletes like himself, Mosier doesn’t just fight for trans men.

“The next step for LGBT Athletes in sports is to find a good way for nonbinary and gender nonconforming people to compete,” Mosier told students at Portland State University on May 17.

Mosier also has been outspoken in defense of trans women athletes and those women whose natural gifts subject them to discrimination, like Caster Semenya. Last month, he criticized the international Court of Arbitration for Sport for ruling the South African Olympian cannot compete unless she takes drugs to suppress her natural testosterone.

“They are just targeting one element of what might make an athlete a good athlete,” Mosier told Hill.TV

In June 2018, Mosier was named a Stonewall Ambassador by the Stonewall Initiative, which raises money for grassroots organizations to combat intolerance and awareness campaigns. As he posted on Instagram, its mission — and his — is to continue the Stonewall legacy.




#Repost @thechrismosier with @get_repost ・・・ Today partnership with Pride Live Nation we are launching the inaugural Stonewall Day to honor the Stonewall legacy and elevate awareness and support for the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. And to kick it off in style, my fellow Stonewall Inn Ambassador – Lauren Jauregui – is celebrating her 22nd birthday by donating a once in a life time experience. Text STONEWALL to 243725 now, make a donation, and you will automatically be entered to meet Lauren in LA for a special painting class! Do it now and it can be you and Lauren in LA. Join us in continuing the Stonewall legacy. Text. STONEWALL. To 243725 now and donate! @laurenjauregui @pridelivenation @stonewallgives #stonewallinnambassadors

A post shared by The Stonewall Inn (Official) (@thestonewallinn) on Jun 28, 2018 at 6:44pm PDT

He’s still hard at work at inclusion; this week he and his own organization partnered with TeamSheIs, to “create greater awareness & education around transgender inclusion in women’s sports,” he tweeted.

Mosier, 39, grew up in Chicago, and told Portland students that growing up, he didn’t know a single LGBTQ person in high school. “The message [about transgender people] I received came from Jerry Springer and Maury Povich,” he said. He came out a decade ago, before Laverne Cox, and Caitlyn Jenner made headlines; he as 29, and it was the same year Chaz Bono came out.

At the university gathering, a student at the assembly asked him, “What do you do for self care?” The student paper, PSU Vanguard, reported that Mosier replied: “I spend time with my bunnies,” and “I spend time with my wife, and I catch pokemon.”

Our Stonewall Spirit series continues tomorrow.

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