Professional Kickass Athletes and they're Lesbians/Bisexual
Megan Rapinoe
U.S. women's soccer team midfielder Megan Rapinoe
publicly announced that she is a lesbian for the first time on Monday,
less than a month before the London Olympic Games.
Rapinoe, 27, who is best known for her stellar athletic skills and
upbeat personality, wants her coming out story to empower LGBT people, USA Today reported.Though she has been openly gay to her family and teammates for quite some time, she candidly spoke about her sexuality during an interview with Out: "For the record: I am gay," she told the gay magazine.
"To be honest, I've been thinking about it for a while, trying to find a time that works. Now leading up to the Olympics, people want to get personal stories," she says. "Our team in general is in a position where people look up to us and kids look up to us. I embrace that and I think I have a huge LGBT following. I think it's pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports. There's really not that many out athletes. It's important to be out and to live my life that way.
"It's about standing up and being counted and saying you're proud of who you are."
Rapinoe, who also plays for the Seattle Sounders of the Major League Soccer women's division, told USA Today she has been getting "positive" feedback after her announcement.
"It's been good," she says. "It's all been extremely positive, which makes me really happy."
Rapinoe came out on the same day Anderson Cooper did as well in a letter that was published by the Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan.
Martina Navratilova
The Prague-born tennis pro, who came out as bisexual in 1981, is credited with having "expanded the dialogue on issues of gender and sexuality in sports," according to ESPN.
"Martina was the first legitimate superstar who literally came out while she was a superstar," Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation, said. "She exploded the barrier by putting it on the table. She basically said this part of my life doesn't have anything to do with me as a tennis player. Judge me for who I am."
At the age of 55 and after a string of tempestuous love affairs, Martina Navratilova has finally embraced motherhood. She has become a parent to her girlfriend’s two young daughters, an arrangement she referred to as her ‘instantaneous family’.
The gay tennis star, who won Wimbledon a record nine times, has spoken of her happiness and admitted that motherhood has changed her life.
Miss Navratilova has been in a relationship with former Russian beauty queen Julia Lemigova, 41, since 2006, and the couple were first pictured together in 2009.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King won her first championship at age 15. She won 12 Grand
Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and 11 Grand
Slam mixed doubles titles. She is the first woman to earn more than
$100,00 from any sport. She was ranked No. 1 in the world five years.
Billie Jean King had married her college sweetheart Larry King. As her
career grew, the two remained married, but Billie began having affairs
with women. In 1981 an ex-lover outed Billie Jean King and filed a
palimony suit. Billie Jean King, afraid of losing her tennis
endorsements and her career called the affair a "mistake" and stayed
deep in the closet. Even with that admission, Billie Jean King lost
almost all her commercial sponsors.
In 1998, Billie Jean King finally came all the way out of the closet. In 2000 she was the coach of the US Women’s tennis team. She was the first open lesbian to coach an Olympic team.
At 64, this lesbian icon is still at it and went to the conservative Muslim sheikdom of Qatar to promote gender equality in sport during the women’s tennis tour”s year-end championships won Sunday by Venus Williams.
Billie Jean told the Associated Press that a shift toward gender parity in sport is a gradual process that requires respect for all cultures and religions: "Human rights is very important. But it is going to take generations to have a shift. Things do not happen quickly, but we have to start someplace."
Later in her life King said this concerning the personal cost of concealing her sexuality for so many years,
"I wanted to tell the truth but my parents were homophobic and I was in the closet. As well as that, I had people tell me that if I talked about what I was going through, it would be the end of the women’s tour. I couldn’t get a closet deep enough. I’ve got a homophobic family, a tour that will die if I come out, the world is homophobic and, yeah, I was homophobic. If you speak with gays, bisexuals, lesbians and transgenders, you will find a lot of homophobia because of the way we all grew up. One of my big goals was always to be honest with my parents and I couldn’t be for a long time. I tried to bring up the subject but felt I couldn’t. My mother would say, "We’re not talking about things like that", and I was pretty easily stopped because I was reluctant anyway. I ended up with an eating disorder that came from trying to numb myself from my feelings. I needed to surrender far sooner than I did. At the age of 51, I was finally able to talk about it properly with my parents and no longer did I have to measure my words with them. That was a turning point for me as it meant I didn’t have regrets any more."
On August 12, 2009, King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her work advocating for the rights of women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community. "This is a chance for me — and for the United States of America — to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries," President Obama said.
Billie Jean told the Associated Press that a shift toward gender parity in sport is a gradual process that requires respect for all cultures and religions: "Human rights is very important. But it is going to take generations to have a shift. Things do not happen quickly, but we have to start someplace."
Later in her life King said this concerning the personal cost of concealing her sexuality for so many years,
"I wanted to tell the truth but my parents were homophobic and I was in the closet. As well as that, I had people tell me that if I talked about what I was going through, it would be the end of the women’s tour. I couldn’t get a closet deep enough. I’ve got a homophobic family, a tour that will die if I come out, the world is homophobic and, yeah, I was homophobic. If you speak with gays, bisexuals, lesbians and transgenders, you will find a lot of homophobia because of the way we all grew up. One of my big goals was always to be honest with my parents and I couldn’t be for a long time. I tried to bring up the subject but felt I couldn’t. My mother would say, "We’re not talking about things like that", and I was pretty easily stopped because I was reluctant anyway. I ended up with an eating disorder that came from trying to numb myself from my feelings. I needed to surrender far sooner than I did. At the age of 51, I was finally able to talk about it properly with my parents and no longer did I have to measure my words with them. That was a turning point for me as it meant I didn’t have regrets any more."
On August 12, 2009, King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her work advocating for the rights of women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community. "This is a chance for me — and for the United States of America — to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries," President Obama said.
Sarah Vaillancourt
As a freshman at Harvard, Sarah Vaillancourt simply decided to stop hiding her sexual orientation.
Whenever the subject of dating or relationships arose, she spoke frankly.
"If they weren't going to accept me on the team," she said, "I wasn't going to stay."
It helped that Vaillancourt quickly established herself among the top scorers on her college hockey squad and a rising star for Team Canada back home in Quebec. But she knew that as a lesbian, she would encounter challenges different from those facing gay male athletes.
On the plus side, she grew up with role models such as Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in tennis, Sheryl Swoopes in basketball and Rosie Jones in golf. Fans have come to expect a certain percentage of gays in women's sports.
This expectation also counts as a negative. In some circles, athletic women are automatically presumed gay, which can spark resentment among straight athletes.
Vaillancourt, so candid at Harvard, acknowledges she is more cautious around the Canadian national team.
"They don't want me to talk about it so much because if one person comes out, everyone's [going to be labeled] a lesbian," she said. "My whole team is not lesbian."
"If they weren't going to accept me on the team," she said, "I wasn't going to stay."
It helped that Vaillancourt quickly established herself among the top scorers on her college hockey squad and a rising star for Team Canada back home in Quebec. But she knew that as a lesbian, she would encounter challenges different from those facing gay male athletes.
On the plus side, she grew up with role models such as Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in tennis, Sheryl Swoopes in basketball and Rosie Jones in golf. Fans have come to expect a certain percentage of gays in women's sports.
This expectation also counts as a negative. In some circles, athletic women are automatically presumed gay, which can spark resentment among straight athletes.
Vaillancourt, so candid at Harvard, acknowledges she is more cautious around the Canadian national team.
"They don't want me to talk about it so much because if one person comes out, everyone's [going to be labeled] a lesbian," she said. "My whole team is not lesbian."
Rosie Jones
In a letter to the New York Times, Rosie Jones admitted she is a lesbian on March 21, 2004, in part to accept a sponorship from Olivia, a lesbian music and travel agency.
Golf Career: Jones has won 13 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) titles. She has been on the tour since 1982. She had four top-three finishes in 2002. In 2003 she won the Asahi Ryokuken International Championship at Mount Vintage.
On Being a Lesbian: Rosie said in her letter to the New York Times, "I've been very comfortable with the fact that I'm gay. I came out to my family when I was 19, and my friends and associates on the Tour are all aware that I am gay."
On the Risks of Coming Out: Rosie said, "As any gay person can tell you, coming out involves making yourself incredibly vulnerable. Every gay person knows other gay people who have been rejected by family or friends."
On Coming out at Age 44: Rosie came out at age 44 after a long and successful career in the LPGA. For those who would criticize her for coming out so late, she says, "I'm sure people will criticize me for coming out so late. To them, I say simply, I wasn't ready until now. If the gay-rights movement is about anything, it should be about letting people come out on their own timetable and on their own terms."
4 comments:
makes me want to start playing tennis. hahaha. requesting for your permission to post this on facebook.
- tcf
@TCF - ambilis ah! been wanting to play tennis too! *puro na lang want. lol!* :) sure, share away! =) the more, the many! hehe.
We could start with badminton. Lighter racket cheaper court rent. Haha
- J
Rapinoe. @_@. Haha. In love ako sa buhok niya. :))
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