Openly gay Olympians Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy chose not to participate in an official visit to the White House by U.S. Olympic athletes last week.
The two athletes took to social media to share their respective reasons for the political snub, with figure skater Rippon writing: "I will not be going. I will not stand with people who discriminate against those that they perceive as different."
He continued: "In lieu of going to DC, I have donated to a few of my favourite causes."
He then linked to the donation pages for LGBTIQ+ youth organisation GLAAD, Planned Parenthood, and the Red Cross foundation - inviting his followers to donate if able.
Meanwhile, Gus Kenworthy said that his decision not to attend was indicative of a larger movement.
“All US Olympians and Paralympians are invited to visit the White House and meet the President after the Games," he tweeted.
"Today is this year’s visit and USOC spokesperson says he’s never seen so many athletes turn down their invites."
He added: "The resistance is real.”
President Donald Trump faced criticism following comments made about Paralympic athletes at the gathering on Friday.
“What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me,” Trump said, according to The Daily Beast. “And I watched — it’s a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could.”
The Paralympics organisation was quick to respond.
“Record numbers of people around the world are not finding @Paralympics tough to watch,” they tweeted on the weekend.
“Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world. We hope the US President continues to watch and be inspired by the Paralympics."
Other members of the USA Olympic team to decline their White House invitations included ski racer Lindsey Vonn, four-time Olympic luger Erin Hamlin, and 18-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim.
