‘I’m thankful that I’m gay’: beach volleyball pro Alex Ukkelberg comes out in emotional post
Pro beach volleyball player Alex Ukkelberg (IG: @alex.ukkelberg)
Pro beach volleyball player Alex Ukkelberg has come out as gay in an Instagram reel, saying he is “thankful” to be gay after several years of struggling with his mental health.
Ukkelberg, a Los Angeles-based professional, said it was the first time he had discussed being gay publicly. He added that he has been out within his family and volleyball circle for years, but had kept that part of his life off social media.
Explaining why he decided to share the video now, Ukkelberg told Outsports: “I’ve been out for a long time to family and friends and as I shared more on social media it just felt like a good thing to say. Visibility matters.”
What did Alex Ukkelberg say in his coming out video?
In the reel, Ukkelberg described how long it took him to accept his sexuality, and how closely he once linked being an athlete with being straight.
“There was no way I could be gay. Is there?” he said, before listing the sports he grew up playing.
He also spoke about the weight of saying it out loud for the first time. “Saying the words ‘I’m gay’ out loud for the first time was really hard for me,” Ukkelberg said.
Reflecting on that period, he added: “After quite a few years of very bad mental health, I decided I wasn’t able to give up either identity. I was just going to have to figure out how to be both, and honestly, I’m thankful that I’m gay. It’s made me a better, more empathetic person.”
Ukkelberg said that despite being out for over 10 years, he had “conveniently left that part of my story off social media”, and admitted: “Honestly, even after making this real, part of me wants to just delete it.”
How did other players react?
One of Ukkelberg’s friends on tour is Charlie Siragusa, who is also an out beach volleyball pro. The pair are part of a chat group of gay players called “GayVP”.
“Alex is a great person,” Siragusa told Outsports, adding that Ukkelberg honours different parts of his identity and lives authentically.
Professional beach volleyball in the US is most visibly associated with the AVP tour, where athletes often build audiences through social media as well as competition results. Originally from Minnesota, Ukkelberg played volleyball at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology as well as a master’s in sport and exercise psychology. In 2025, he notched what was described as his standout career win by taking the AVP Laguna Beach Open with his partner, Logan Webber.
Another recent example of volleyball visibility came in June 2025, when US men’s volleyball captain Erik Shoji came out as queer in a viral video.
