Athlete gay activism

After the death of his best friend, Waddell switched to pre-medicine. Known as one of the greatest American divers, Greg Louganis is a four-time Olympic gold medallist. In the s, Waddell called San Francisco home, largely due to the emerging gay culture in the city.

Off the field, Rapinoe is leaving her mark. However, his journey as an Olympic diver came with some bumps. King has since founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which advocates for equality in sports regardless of race, gender, religion or sexuality. Waddell attended Springfield College in Massachusetts on a track scholarship and competed on the football and gymnastics teams.

The raid occurred in the early hours on June 28, , and the protests lasted several days. In an ESPN interview , Louganis revealed his diving team would have meetings without him to see who would share a room with him. Waddell participated in a Bay Area gay bowling competition, inspiring him to create the Gay Games.

She was one of the athletes to show solidarity with Colin Kaepernick when she knelt during the United States national anthem in September She is an ambassador for Athlete Ally, an organization dedicated to ending homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Recently, there has been an abundance of bans on transgender youth in sports in the United States and more laws banning gender-affirming care. Rapinoe has not only established herself a legacy on the field, but she is also establishing one off of it. In May , U.

Soccer announced a collective bargaining agreement to achieve equal pay. Rapinoe won a gold medal at the London Olympics, where she became the first player to score an Olimpico—a goal from a corner kick—at the Olympic Games. In recent years, many athletes have taken a stand on social issues, using their fame and influence to speak out about important causes.

From advocating for racial equality to supporting LGBTQ+ rights, these athletes have shown that their voices extend far beyond the playing field. He is the only man to sweep diving events in consecutive Olympic Games, where he cumulatively won four gold medals during the and Summer Olympics.

Here are some athletes that have impacted the sports world and beyond. From his exceptional diving career to his triumph over adversary, Louganis leaves a lasting legacy. Nevertheless, Louganis finished two more dives showcasing his resilience. King leaves a lasting impact on the tennis world and the sports world as a whole in her fight for equality.

During the Olympic preliminary rounds, he hit his head on the diving board, causing a gash and concussion. Since his retirement from diving, Louganis participated in dog agility competitions and has become an advocate for HIV awareness. No list of groundbreaking athletes would be complete without Billie Jean King, one of the greatest women's tennis players of all time and a dedicated activist for gay rights and gender.

She would score another Olimpico nine years later at the Tokyo Olympics. The lawsuit revealed the women previously had an affair. Known for both her skills on the field and her activism off of it, Megan Rapinoe continues to make her mark in the sports world. Former NBA player Jason Collins became the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues when he came out in In the decathlon event, Waddell placed sixth.

On May 1, , King held a press conference in Los Angeles where she revealed her truth—she did have an affair with Barnett. Learn more about Athlete Ally's work to champion LGBTQI+ inclusion in and through sport. Waddell was shipped to Vietnam two years later to train as a decathlete for the Mexico Olympics, much to his surprise.

King was publicly outed in after a lawsuit from her former personal assistant Marilyn Barnett. Gay athletes and anti-bullying activists like Ben Cohen, former pro English rugby player, are fighting to change the game and create more inclusive spaces for LGBT players everywhere.

He was drafted into the American Army in as a preventive-medicine officer and paratrooper.