From Diving to Drag: Aidan Faminoff Wants Queer Athletes to Feel Safe

A diving board and a drag stage may look like very different worlds. For Aidan Faminoff, they are both part of the same story.

The openly gay former NCAA diver, who performs in drag as Hazel, has spoken about wanting to use his growing public profile to create safer spaces for LGBTQ+ athletes — particularly the kind of environment he says he struggled to find when he was younger.

Faminoff recently appeared as Hazel on a Diversity and Inclusion in Sport panel connected to Capital Pride and the European Union in Canada. Reflecting afterwards, he said the experience had reignited his desire to speak publicly about sport, sexuality and belonging.

Coming out while competing

Faminoff’s relationship with diving and identity has never been completely separate.

During high school, the sport offered him somewhere to focus while he dealt with the anxiety of being closeted. Later, after coming out publicly while competing at Florida State University, diving became another place where he could express himself more openly.

But visibility did not automatically create belonging.

Looking back, Faminoff says there were spaces he wishes had existed for him — places where queer athletes did not simply have to tolerate being different but could feel entirely comfortable being themselves.

Drag eventually became part of the answer.

As Hazel, Faminoff has found another form of performance, confidence and community. Now he wants to connect that experience back to sport.

Queer athletes shouldn’t need to choose between worlds

One of the persistent problems with LGBTQ+ representation in sport is the idea that queerness must somehow be toned down to be accepted.

Be gay — but not too gay.
Be visible — but don’t make anybody uncomfortable.
Be yourself — provided yourself still fits neatly inside the locker room.

Faminoff represents something much more interesting.

An athlete can dive competitively and perform in drag. Masculinity, femininity, sport, queerness and performance do not need to sit in separate boxes.

And young athletes seeing that possibility matters.

Faminoff has said he now wants to spend more time helping athletes find their voices, checking in with people inside sport and challenging organisations to consider how they support LGBTQ+ competitors.

That may be the most important part of his next chapter.

Winning medals can inspire somebody to become a better athlete.

Seeing somebody live openly might help them believe they are allowed to become themselves.