I admire you.
I respect you.
I think you're awesome for being so out and open with who you
are.
And I know that you talked about the Vice President
and saying that-- because I don't
know if everyone knows this, but he
believes in conversion therapy.
And he thinks that you can change people
from who they are.
So you made a statement about that.
And then I guess he reached out.
He called you.
You didn't take his call because you were focusing.
If you spoke to him, what would you say?
I'm an openly gay man competing at the Olympics.
And somebody who thinks that gay people might
be this societal collapse of our nation,
I didn't feel like it was the right time.
If I had the chance to have a call with him now,
I have nothing to say to Mike Pence.
That's not a conversation for me.
I think going to the Olympics, it's
given me a really great platform to give a voice to people who
feel like they don't have one.
So if that call were to happen I would say,
you know what, it's not for me.
It's for those people who--
their lives have been affected and changed by legislation
that he's pushed.
It's a chance for them to share their stories
and their experiences.
It's not for me.
[AUDIENCE CHEERS]
I would hope and pray that he is open enough
to sit down and hear people's stories and meet these--
I do too.
--people that he has those feelings about.
You've been planning for, what, 10 years to be in the Olympics.
Right?
Yes.
Training and getting ready.
And now what has this done for you?
I'm still the same old hot mess I was 10 years ago.
But I'm still that same person.
My life has completely changed, but at the core
I am still that same old disaster.
Well, you don't appear to be a disaster.
I'll tell you that.
So let's talk about what you're doing.
You're raising money for GLAD and I
think everyone needs to be aware of GLAD.
And tell everyone what you're doing.
Well, this is something that I'm really excited to be a part of.
I'm working with their youth engagement program.
And this is so important because we're getting these kids
and they're becoming activists in their community.
When I was young, to have somebody out there
that I could have looked up to.
It would have made a world of difference.
It would have changed my life.
When I was young, I had a goldfish named Princess Diana.
And that should have been the writing on the wall for me.
I also had a goldfish name Diarrhea.
Spelled diarrhea, for balance.
It's a family name.
But to have these young kids going out there
and changing the world.
I said, this is something that I need to be a part of.
Yeah.
And you're a great role model.
It's great.
And it is really important for the youth
out there to have somebody, and have a face on television
and sports and every area, and say that there
are gay people everywhere.
This is not-- you're not alone.
One in five kids today identify with some sort
of LGBTQ identity.
And that's one in five.
Right here, we're two for two, right down here.
So look to your left.
Look to your right.
And if nobody's gay, you're probably the one.
[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]
I love you so much.
I don't know what I'm going to do with you,
but I'm doing something with you.
I want you to do something on the show.
You're fantastic.
And we want to be the first to make
a donation to your fundraiser.
Our friends at Shutterfly love organizations like GLAD.
So we're going to donate $10,000 in your name to GLAD.
[AUDIENCE CHEERS]
Thank you so much.
I love you.
To learn more about how you can donate to Adam's fundraiser
for GLAD, go to our website.