Glatzer and Poras dramatize that tension through interviews with Joel Dear and Christian Erwin, who teamed up for the couples competition at the 2018 Gay Games, in Paris, and Mark Stanford, a Black gay skater with H.I.V. Many of the obstacles these athletes face are institutional. Russia, where even discussing L.G.B.T.Q.+ identity is illegal, dominates Olympic-level skating; few pros are “out,” for fear of hurting their marketability. And, as Corbett notes, traditional figure skating hinges on a vision of heterosexual romance that’s both erotic and formulaic: a glittery princess tossed in the air, spun by a powerful man. This model gets into the head of gay competitors, too. After years of skating with a female partner, Dear felt “uneasy” skating with a man. When Erwin told his mother of his plan, she said, “Isn’t that a family show?”