/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/28234563/rainbowglove.0.png)
Before the Opening Ceremonies even began we have our first apparent televised statement of support for LGBT rights at the Sochi Olympics. It comes from Dutch snowboarder Cheryl Maas, a married lesbian, after a slopestyle prelim run.
That's a glove covered in rainbows and, well, a unicorn. While the glove itself could be passed off as a totally normal thing for a snowboarder to wear -- rainbows and unicorns are lovely in any context -- the gesture to ensure the camera caught a full view of it is pretty unmistakable. Maas clearly wanted the world to see her rainbow unicorn glove. One struggles to imagine a snowboarder with a blank glove or one featuring a skull or something doing the same gesture.
We'll soon find out how many other LGBT athetes and allies in Sochi make statements, subtle or otherwise.
More on the Winter Olympics:
• Meet Team USA's brightest Winter Olympic athletes
• The best photos from Day 1 in Sochi
• The Flawless Sochi Olympics | Russia is spying on hotel showers
• Miracle Put on Ice: 1984 US hockey team never had a chance
• Hockey: Men’s schedule | All 12 men’s rosters | USA roster analysis