#trey cunningham

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Trey Cunningham

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

DOB: 26 August 1998

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Prof athlete, model

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Trey Cunningham

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Trey Cunningham is an American athlete who specializes in the 110-meter hurdles. He is the 11th-ranked high hurdler in the world.

Trey grew up in Winfield, Alabama. He described the town as:

“rural, quite conservative, quite religious, the sort of place where you did not want to be the gay kid at school.”

Yet, Trey was gay. It was a realization that came to him when he first attended college at Florida State in 2018. He began to explore his sexuality at college because he wanted to know what felt right.

"I feel like I was on the cusp of that change, just a little bit… I’ve realized people just don't care, I'm just Trey and apparently it's a special thing that I like to kiss guys."

Coming out to his parents was difficult.

“They had certain expectations for their little boy, for what his life would be like, and that’s OK.”

He came out to other family and friends as well. But he wasn’t ready to make a public proclamation.

Trey wanted to establish himself as one of the best hurdlers in the world. He won the silver medal in the 110 meters at the world championships in 2022. He was also honored with the Bowerman Award (track and field’s version of the Heisman Trophy), and named the 2022 ACC Men’s Outdoor Track Performer of the Year.

Trey didn’t feel like he was living a lie by not being out to the public. The people in his life knew, that’s all he needed. But he wanted to speak out about LGBT+ rights, which felt awkward in his semi closets state. He was in the middle ground: free to be himself, but within limits.

That’s why Trey decided to speak with the New York Times in 2024. He explained that in Track & Field, athletes express their goals out loud - a mantra.

"If there's something we want to achieve, we say it. Putting something in words makes it real."

Now, Trey is completely out in the open. He can celebrate how he's "grown up in a time where people just don't care anymore.”

(Trey signed with Ford Models in 2022.)