About STEF
Hey! I’m Stef Vachon, and I am a human being.
To me, that should be enough, but unfortunately, it is not.
My childhood was marked by homophobia, bullying, and abuse, teaching me to hate myself as I grew up. It stripped away my childhood and a significant part of my life.
At 17, overwhelmed with shame and guilt, I quit my competitive figure skating career after finally making it to Nationals in Canada, simply unable to endure the abuse any longer.
At 18, I joined professional ice shows, thinking I could escape the shame and guilt by traveling the world. But no matter where I went, the weight of it followed me.
After nearly losing myself in my early thirties, I began a long healing process. Embracing self-care in every area of my life, including my health, eventually led to an ADHD diagnosis in my fifties, which has been key to understanding my journey and guiding my future.
I am a double gold medalist in figure skating at both the 1994 Gay Games and the 2006 World Outgames. After nearly 15 years away from the ice, I’ve returned at 55, ready to compete again in Masters competitions and at the 2026 València Gay Games.
I am not rich, I am not a star, and I haven’t done anything particularly amazing. I’m just an ordinary person who wakes up each morning, feeling an urgency to enjoy each moment as much as possible. I do my best to live in the present, striving to embrace every minute with gratitude. I finally feel that I deserve to be happy with myself and to have the life I always wanted, and that is the most amazing feeling. I have decided that I have the same right as anyone else on this earth to live a happy and fulfilled life, we all do. Why not? Don’t you agree?
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Solidarity beats hate. The more we unite, the stronger we become.
Because at the end of the day, we are all equally human, and we all deserve the same rights.
