About STEF
Hey! I’m Stef Vachon, and I am a human being.
To me, that should be enough, but unfortunately, it is not.
I have decided to transform a painful life experience into a positive and powerful force to uplift and support my community.
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, simply unable to endure the abuse any longer.
After nearly losing myself in my thirties, I began a long healing process. Embracing full self-care in all areas of my life, including my health, ultimately led me to an ADHD diagnosis in my 50s, which has been key to understanding my journey and guiding my future.
At 55, I’ve returned to the ice, ready to compete again, this time in Masters competitions and at the 2026 València Gay Games. Stepping back onto the ice feels like coming home, a rediscovery of a part of myself I thought was lost forever. The sensation of gliding, with my blades cutting into the ice, brings me to life in a way I had forgotten.
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.
