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Lesbians and athletics have
been identified with each other since long before the 1969 Stonewall
Rebellion alerted mainstream straight America that there was a large
queer minority in its midst. Despite that long history, many
Lesbians in
Sports continue to face homophobia and other obstacles today. |
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Babe Didrikson |
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Bodybuilding
includes many lesbians and gay men both as athletes and consumers of
the physical culture and entertainment products the sport sponsors. The
important role of lesbians and gay men in the sport is more often
denied than recognized. |
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Rita Mae Brown
(b. 1944) is a lesbian poet and novelist best known for the highly
successful novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Her novel Sudden Death,
which looks at life within the women's tennis circuit, was inspired by
her relationship with tennis star
Martina Navratilova. |
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Mildred "Babe"
Didrikson (1911-1956) was one of the greatest women athletes in
history. Despite all of her triumphs, she was taunted by
charges of "mannishness" and "unnaturalness." |
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Frontrunners
is an
international confederation of gay, lesbian, transgendered, and
gay-friendly runners, joggers, power walkers, strollers, rollerbladers,
and sometimes bicyclists of all abilities. The group takes its name
from novelist
Patricia Nell
Warren's The Front Runner.
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The
Gay Games
is a
quadrennial sporting and cultural event designed for the glbtq
community that has become a lucrative attraction for host cities. |
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Radclyffe Hall (1880-1943)
who lived her lesbianism openly and proudly, is best known for The
Well of Loneliness, arguably the most important lesbian novel ever
written. Stephen, the protagonist in The Well, exhibited her
lesbianism by engaging in traditionally masculine activities including
sports. |
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Billie Jean King
(b.1943)
helped transform the world of professional tennis. She denied her
lesbianism in the 1980s, but in 2000 became the first openly lesbian
coach of an Olympic team. |
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Lesbian Sports
Literature is a surprisingly small
literary genre. Despite the high representation of lesbians in women's
sports, sports and sportswomen have played a minor role in lesbian
literature. |
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Martina Navratilova
(b. 1956)
is one of the greatest tennis players in history and has become an
outspoken supporter of lesbian and gay rights. |
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