The brief history of gay athletes thru 1998
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This was a chance find and I am sorry it is not up to date. However, I will try to find the updates and post them at a later date. :ok1:
Gay athletes and events in the 20th century are few:
1920
Bill Tilden, who does not hide his homosexuality, wins the men's singles title at Wimbledon. He goes on to win two more Wimbledon titles, seven U.S. championships, and leads U.S. teams to seven Davis Cup victories. In 1950, a survey of sportswriters names Tilden the greatest tennis player of the half-century. He dies in 1953.
1968
Tom Waddell, a 30-year-old Army physician, places sixth in the Olympic decathlon. Waddell, who is openly gay, becomes increasingly involved in gay politics. In 1976, Waddell and his partner Charles Deaton are the first gay men to be featured in the "Couples" section of People magazine. Five years later, Waddell forms San Francisco Arts and Athletics to plan the first "Gay Olympic Games."
1975
David Kopay, an NFL running back who played for five teams (San Francisco, Detroit, Washington, New Orleans, Green Bay) between 1964-72, becomes the first professional team-sport athlete to come out – doing so three years after retiring. He admits his homosexuality during an interview with the now-defunct Washington Star.
1981
Billie Jean King is "outed" when ex-lover Marilyn Barnett sues her for "galimony" while she is married to Larry King. King is currently preparing to launch her own Billie Jean Foundation that will support gay and lesbian youths.
Martina Navratilova publicly reveals that she is a lesbian during an interview with the New York Daily News. Navratilova's announcement that she is a lesbian cost her endorsement dollars but won her respect from other players.
1982
The first Gay Olympic Games takes place in San Francisco.
1983
Bob Paris wins the Mr. America and Mr. Universe bodybuilding titles. In 1989, he reveals his homosexuality to the bodybuilding community during an interview with Ironman magazine. He also weds his long-time partner Rod Jackson-Paris and discusses the marriage on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
1985
Ed Gallagher, an offensive lineman for the University of Pittsburgh from 1977-79, jumps from a dam 12 days after his first sexual encounter with another man. He survives but is left a paraplegic. Gallagher says that before his suicide attempt, he had become unable to reconcile his image of himself as an athlete with gay urges. He later admits that the incident forced him to come to grips with his sexuality: "I was more emotionally paralyzed then, than I am physically now."
1987
Jerry Smith, a tight end with the Washington Redskins from 1965-77, dies of AIDS complications. Smith never acknowledged that he was gay, but in David Kopay's autobiography, Smith was described as his first love.
1988
Dave Pallone, a National League umpire, is fired for his alleged involvement with a teenage sex ring. The charges are deemed groundless and the investigation is dropped. According to Pallone, the real reason he was fired was the fact that he was gay. He had privately come out to then-National League President Bart Giamatti, who caved in to pressure from National League owners who called for Pallone's firing. According to his widow, it was a decision Giamatti regretted.
Bruce Hayes, an Olympic swimmer who won a gold medal in 1984 as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay, comes out publicly at the Gay Games and wins seven gold medals in competition.
Justin Fashanu, a top soccer player in Britain, reveals that he is gay. He is the first athlete in a team sport to come out during his athletic career. After publicly coming out, Fashanu was described by others as "erratic." At one point, he makes the claim, which he eventually retracts, that he had sex with two British cabinet ministers. Fashanu commits suicide in 1998 at the age of 36. His body is found hanging in an abandoned garage in East London. At the time, he was wanted in the U.S. on charges of sexually assaulting a teenager in Maryland.
1991
Rene Portland, Penn State University women's basketball coach, states that she has a policy of forbidding lesbians from playing on her team.
1992
Matthew Hall, a figure skater on the Canadian National Team, comes out.
Roy Simmons, an offensive guard for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins from 1979-83, reveals he is gay during an appearance on The Phil Donahue Show.
1993
David Slattery, general manager of the Washington Redskins in the early 1970's, comes out.
Glenn Burke, former outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A's who was known for popularizing the high five, comes out publicly during an interview. He was released from his contract with the A's in 1979, ending his career at age 26. During the same interview in which he admits his homosexuality, Burke says he believes he was traded from the Dodgers because management suspected his was gay. By the early 1990s, Burke was living on the streets in the Bay area, plagued by personal problems and a drug addiction. He dies of AIDS complications in 1995.
1994
Gay Games IV is held in New York City. The event attracts more than 11,000 participants in 31 events, making it the largest athletic competition in history. In a waiver of U.S. policy, Attorney General Janet Reno allows HIV-positive individuals from outside the United States to enter the country, without special permits, to attend the Games.
Greg Louganis, four-time Olympic gold medalist in diving who becomes HIV-positive, comes out in public at the Gay Games.
Missy Giove, an openly lesbian mountain biker, wins her first world title. Considered the Michael Jordan of her sport, she subsequently wins back-to-back world titles in 1996 and '97.
1995
Ian Roberts, one of Australia's most popular rugby players, poses nude for a gay magazine. In the same issue, Roberts speaks about being "part of a different group ... an outsider." He becomes the first major sports figure in Australia to come out. Roberts soon becomes a fixture at a variety of gay events, and his endorsements increase.
1996
Muffin Spencer-Devlin, an 18-year LPGA veteran, speaks about being a lesbian in the March 18 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Rudy Galindo, the national men's skating champion, discusses being a gay man in the book Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skating. Doug Mattis, another professional skater, comes out not long afterward.
David Pichler and Patrick Jeffrey, two openly gay U.S. divers, compete in the Atlanta Olympics.
1998
Michael Muska, a former track-and-field coach at Auburn and Northwestern, is named athletic director at Oberlin College. Muska is the first openly gay man to hold such a position in college sports.
Paul Priore, a former New York Yankees clubhouse assistant, files a lawsuit on July 29 against Yankee pitchers Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera and former Yankee pitcher Bob Wickman. Priore claims that he was humiliated with gay-bashing remarks, harassed and threatened with sexual assault. He also says he was fired because he has contracted the AIDS virus.
Greg Louganis, in a special Goodwill Games edition of New York 1 News' nightly sports program, says that several athletes in professional team sports have asked him for advice about going public with their homosexuality.
Brian Orser, former world figure skating champion and two-time Canadian Olympic silver medalist, is revealed in November as gay in an palimony suit filed by an ex-boyfriend. In an affadavit in which he argued to keep the suit's documents sealed, Orser says, "Other skaters, both Canadian and American, guard their gayness closely because of the likely impact of public disclosure on their careers."
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Mark Tewksbury, MSM (born February 7, 1968 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a former Canadian swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100 metres backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted How It's Made, a Canadian television show, in 2001.
Raised in Calgary, Alberta, Tewksbury trained at the University of Calgary. He attended the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and won a silver medal as part of Canada's relay team. For some years he ranked as one of the top backstrokers in the world; never a strong below-the-water swimmer, he was unmatched on the surface, but, as the importance of below-the-water swimming increased, Tewksbury's ranking began to fall.
Going into Barcelona, Tewksbury was ranked fourth in the world and most pundits picked one of the powerful American swimmers to win gold. Tewksbury's gold medal was Canada's first at the Barcelona games and the first Canadian gold in swimming since the Communist-boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Tewksbury also won a bronze medal in the relay event in Barcelona. He made the cover of Time magazine. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame and was named Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year.In December 1998, Tewksbury announced to the Canadian media and people that he was gay. He was the first Canadian athlete to voluntarily state his homosexuality and his announcement drew great public attention. In 1998, he lost a six-figure contract as a motivational speaker because he was "too openly gay."
Tewksbury became a prominent advocate for gay rights and gay causes in Canada and the world. On May 16, 2003, Tewksbury joined the board of directors for the 2006 World Outgames in Montreal and was named co-president.
Tewksbury was the narrator for the TV show How It's Made during the first season. In 2006, he published his second book, an autobiography entitled Inside Out: Straight Talk from a Gay Jock.[1] Tewksbury remains a public figure working as a motivational speaker, a television commentator for swimming events, and a continued activist. He is a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation.
On November 30, 2006 Tewksbury was the Master of Ceremonies for the Tribute to former Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Liberal Party of Canada's Leadership and Biennial Convention in Montreal.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics, Tewksbury served as CBC Sports' Swimming analyst alongside play-by play announcer Steve Armitage.In December 2008 Tewksbury was invited by the government of France to speak at the United Nations in New York City on the day that a declaration was introduced that affirms gay rights and seeks to decriminalize homosexuality.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Tewksbury
I met him once. He's a really nice guy albeit quite a nelly queen. I tried reading his more recent book but couldn't finish it.
Sports and homosexuality is a great topic. It will take a long time before it's an non-issue, but pioneers like these are slowly chipping away at the prejudices.
I watch a lot of sports. I often wonder the thoughts of the athletic figures I so admire regarding this issue; unfortunately, it's far too taboo to address–especially in America.
P.S. Terrel Owens is hot hot hot.
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1998
Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian swimmer and gold medal winner from 1992 Summer Olympics announces to the Canadian media that he is gay. He is the first Canadian athlete to voluntarily state his homosexuality and his announcement draws great public attention. In December 2008 Tewksbury is invited by the government of France to speak at the United Nations in New York City on the day that a declaration is introduced that affirms gay rights and seeks to decriminalize homosexuality.Michael Muska, a former track-and-field coach at Auburn and Northwestern, is named athletic director at Oberlin College. Muska is the first openly gay man to hold such a position in college sports.
Paul Priore, a former New York Yankees clubhouse assistant, files a lawsuit on July 29 against Yankee pitchers Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera and former pitcher Bob Wickman. Priore claims that he was humiliated with gay-bashing remarks, harassed and threatened with sexual assault. He also says he was fired because he contracted the AIDS virus.
Greg Louganis, in a special Goodwill Games edition of New York 1 News' nightly sports program, says that several athletes in professional team sports have asked him for advice about going public with their homosexuality.
Brian Orser, former world figure skating champion and two-time Canadian Olympic silver medalist, is revealed in November as gay in a palimony suit filed by an ex-boyfriend. In an affadavit in which he argued to keep the suit's documents sealed, Orser says, "Other skaters, both Canadian and American, guard their gayness closely because of the likely impact of public disclosure on their careers."
2007
John Amaechi, a retired American-British NBA basketball player, publicly announces he is gay. He is the only openly gay NBA player.2009
Brendan Burke, son of Toronto Maple Leafs manager Brian Burke, publicly announces he’s gay in an interview with ESPN. His announcement generates discussions in the media about homophobia in sports.2009
Gareth Thomas, a Welsh professional rugby player for the Crusaders, announced he is gay to the Daily Mail newspaper. His announcement makes him the first openly gay professional rugby player still playing the game. -
Does anyone know if this book is out in MOBI format? Looks like an interesting read for sure.
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I have no answer for you but a suggestion instead :
Post a request in this Forum Board https://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?board=132.0 and this will get Noughty on the case. He is a "Guru" at all things Book related. If he can't get an answer no one can. :ok1:
