35 Swimmers Stars You Didn't Know Were Gay

the sports world is very demanding and competitive so athletes are often required to comply with specific codes of behavior that can be somewhat archaic especially considering that a person's sexual orientation does not define their sports talent these lgbtq swimmers have great stories to offer some very exciting and joyous others not so much but they show that neither orientation nor gender identity defines what a great athlete can offer 1. mark chatfield mark chatfield won many accolades however he did not feel able to come out as gay until he retired in 1994. chatfield said he was always afraid of being discriminated against and they'll get kicked off the team once he came out of the closet he did not hesitate to participate in the gay games held that same year to make the lgbt community visible within sports 2. martha mccabe martha mccabe was one of those athletes who decided to admit to the world that she belonged to the lgbt community to inspire other women and people in general who were having difficulties accepting their sexuality this happened in the year 2020 martha was in the middle of an interview with the canadian television network cbc sports when she said she was a lesbian 3. abraham devine since he was just a baby abram davine loved being in the water his mother decided to teach him to swim from an early age and as a braum grew older he became interested in professional swimming he was on the swim teams in high school and won various state awards when he was 22 years old he decided to come out publicly he noted that there were few openly gay swimmers competing at an elite level and so he wanted to give the lgbt community the visibility it deserved within the sport 4. haley batup this australian-born swimmer has had an impeccable career in 2019 she finally married her girlfriend april zakulek with whom she had been in a relationship for many years seven of them being engaged although they have two children together the couple had never walked down the aisle which is why haley batup threw her fiance a surprise party where they finally said i do 5. skyler baylar skyler has been swimming since he was 1 year old when he was 9 years old he discovered that his passion was swimming competitions during his high school years he received many accolades however at age 16 he had many mental health issues for which he had to attend therapy at that moment skyler felt confident talking about his gender identity and thanks to this he began his transition to being a man two years later although harvard had recruited skyler to be part of the women's swim team after his transition he was offered the opportunity to switch to the men's team which he gladly accepted skyler's story is considered one of the great moments of the lgbt community specifically of the trans 6. melanie ben after going through very dark moments in her life since she became ill with meningococcemia melanie decided to practice swimming despite her disability she eventually began competing in paralympic events and in 2000 she won second place melanie is openly lesbian 7 alex de giorgio this italian swimmer has always been honest about his sexuality he is gay and throughout his career he has managed to participate in significant events such as the summer olympics held in brazil in 2016. 8. rochelle bruni in 2016 rachelle bruni spoke openly about her sexuality even though she had never mentioned to the media that she was a lesbian rochelle lived her life free without showing anything after she won second place at the rio summer olympics in 2016 she publicly thanked her family and her girlfriend for all their support 9. mark foster mark foster had an impressive swimming career he won the title of britain's fastest swimmer when he was a teenager at 47 years of age he decided to live a freer way and tell the world that he was gay many people already sensed it because he lived with the athlete colin jackson for more than 15 years 10. anna marcela cunha cunha has excelled at swimming since she was very young she received first place in world swimming competitions for years including the gold medal at the olympics held this year in tokyo she is currently engaged to her girlfriend and she is proud to encourage lesbians and women in general to dare to follow her dreams 11. michael gunning for years ago this jamaican-born professional swimmer came out as bisexual he is currently known for his activism making the lgbt community visible within sports he has often been on the covers of magazines aimed at the diverse sex community and on social media he always shows his pride in finally being himself 12 casey legler although casey legler's career as a swimmer was a bit short that's not to say she wasn't unique in fact at just 19 years old she represented france at the summer olympics held in atlanta in 1996. after two years casey decided to pursue her college career and art projects she is currently happily married to a woman named siri may 13. amini fanua fanua is an activist for the rights of the lgbt community in his home country of tonga his career as an olympic swimmer allowed him to be heard by millions of people and make a change for the visibility of gender diverse people his swimming skills are impressive so much so that he could break several records in his category and age range both in new zealand and tonga in addition he participated in the olympics held in london in 2012 14. erica sullivan at her young age erica sullivan is already known as one of the best freestyle swimmers in fact she participated in the olympics held in tokyo in 2021 and won second place she is openly lesbian on her instagram she posted a photo of herself encouraging her followers to come out of the closet to live fully 15. johann kanquis in 2004 the olympics were held in greece specifically in the city of athens in this great event only 11 athletes who were openly gay were known and one of them was johann kanquis swimmer had the opportunity to represent his country in this critical event and win third place 16. idnia garcia in society there are many prejudices about people with disabilities however edenia has shown that nothing is impossible when you work for your dreams at this time she wanted to make the news about her sexual orientation public she is lesbian and she wanted the world to know that people with disabilities also have an active sexual life to end those social stigmas 17. tom lutzinger in 2013 tom lutchsinger graduated from college but he was named the best swimmer that year by the atlantic coast conference after winning first place in the u.s national championships at the end of 2014 he decided to publicly come out as gay after many difficult years where he tried to repress who he was through his athletics activities in a letter he wrote to outsports he confirmed that his life became happier after coming out 18 marion lay in 1968 marion lay became known as one of the best freestyle swimmers of the time after winning third place in the summer olympics held in mexico at the end of her career in swimming competitions marion declared that she was lesbian and from there she became an incredible activist for women's rights and sports 19 jeremy stravius stravius is an excellent swimmer born in france throughout his career he has won countless medals in important championships such as the summer olympics held in 2012 where he won a gold medal in mid-june 2021 stravius declared that he was gay by participating in the canal plus documentary we need to talk along with five other athletes for a long time he thought that if people found out that he was gay they would reject him from swimming however he currently feels very happy not to hide who he is 20. eureka folkerts ulrika folkerts is well known in germany for her career as an actress however she won the gay games held in 2002 where she participated as a swimmer alrika is a lesbian and she has always made it very clear to the media she is currently in a very stable relationship with katrina schnitzeler 21 marcus thormier this 24 year old olympic swimmer has participated in competitions such as the 2016 summer olympics and the 2021 olympic games in tokyo in 2019 he uploaded a post to his official instagram account he stated that he liked men and that coming out of the closet was one of the most critical moments because he would never love himself entirely if he did not accept his sexuality 22. teresa michalak in early 2015 teresa decided to come out as a lesbian to inspire other women and people in the lgbt community this professional swimmer of german nationality participated in and won many important championships including the european short course swimming championships held in 2011 23 mark tewksbury mark was a well-known olympic swimmer in the 90s for having participated in and won the summer olympics held in barcelona in 1992. even though a year later he gave an anonymous interview about his sexual orientation to talk about the problem of homophobia that exists within sports it was not until 1998 that he publicly came out as gay from that moment he became a strong activist for the rights of the lgbt community 24 leah thomas although conservative groups tried to overshadow leah's dreams she did not please them leah trended to win the ncaa division national championship as a trans woman earlier this year she is currently a massive icon of the trans community and she has commented that she just ignores the negative comments and keeps the positive ones 25 ian thorpe ian thorpe has become a legend and a source of pride for his native australia he has won five titles as an olympic champion and eleven world champions as a swimmer rumors about ian's sexuality were heard for many years however he always denied being gay even in his autobiography published in 2012. two years later he decided to be honest with himself and came out to his family friends and world 26 fritzy lowy it is currently known that the champion of the european aquatic sports tournament held in 1927 was bisexual she had an important career in this sport and wanted to make everyone understand that people who belonged to the lgbt community could do anything 27 daniel kowalski this australian-born swimmer won the summer olympics twice in 1996 he won second place but he came back in 2000 with all his batteries recharged and managed to win the gold medal at 35 years old he decided it was time to come out publicly because it was tough to live in the shadows 28. theresa go teresa stands out as a paralympic swimmer this great athlete from singapore has won many gold medals in major competitions she currently considers herself a queer person and has spoken on different occasions about how she feels comfortable with her disability because she might not be competing without it 29. ari pekka leo conan liu conan is an excellent swimmer who has represented his country finland twice at the summer olympics in 2012 and 2016. at the beginning of 2014 he gave an interview to eel where he declared that he was gay becoming the first athlete from his country to belong to the lgbt community openly 30. ingrid thunam ingrid is an impressive swimmer who participates in paralympic competitions because she had an illness that caused paralysis in her legs and the right side of her body she is openly lesbian and likes to joke that she belongs to two kinds of minorities 31 bruce hayes bruce hayes is known for being an olympic swimming champion and for being a reference for the lgbt community within this sport at 27 he competed in the gay games at which point he came out feeling finally free he dedicated himself to organizing the subsequent competitions of this sporting event in addition he was the first olympic medalist of north american nationality to come out of the closet 32 dominic call this austrian-born swimmer was one of the winners of the european swimming competition held in the netherlands in 2008. he always wanted to clarify that he was a gay athlete making him an icon for the lgbt community 33. melanie henik at 22 years old the french swimmer melanie henik publicly declared that she was a lesbian however it was not all rosy in her case in the city of amiens where she lived all her life she was attacked by a group of homophobes who demanded that she withdraw from the french swimming team to which she belonged however this made her more robust and she continued to compete and win medals worldwide 34. jack mackinroth mcenroth is a man of many abilities apart from swimming competitions he is also a television celebrity mcenroth is currently an activist for the rights of the lgbt community and the support of people with hiv 35 diana nyad diana nyad has repeatedly told how the sexual abuse as a child propelled her to become the best swimmer she felt free to channel all her frustration and anger when she swam diana has always been very open when talking about her sexual orientation and her religious beliefs 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Channel: LGBTQ Family

Views: 166,252

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Id: qzB0KAheuus

Length: 15min 25sec (925 seconds)

Published: Fri May 20 2022