As more and more gay and lesbian athletes follow, propelled by the scourge of AIDS and a younger generation’s openness, the initial shock is certain to shatter the stereotypes of athletes and homosexuals. Three of America’s most famous male athletes - an NFL player, an NBA player and a track and field star - have been talking to The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine, about coming out, according to its editor. Ultimately, it’s a question of justice and freedom and fairness.” “There are too many gay and lesbian athletes in sports for this to be ignored or hidden much longer. Dee Mosbacher, a psychiatrist and producer of a documentary about homophobia in women’s sports. “We have to start talking about it,” said Dr. It is happening slowly, with anger and denial on all sides of the issue, but the movement to end this most secret and powerful taboo in athletics cannot be stopped. Half a century after the color barrier was broken in baseball, a social shift of no less significance is occurring on playing fields and in locker rooms, in corporate offices and in public debate: the acceptance of homosexuality in sports. On a Sunday when about half of the 27,000 spectators were lesbians, walking around together, holding hands, hugging and kissing, nothing about this couple seemed unusual. Two young women lay languidly in the sun along the 18th fairway, T-shirts rolled up above their bellies, arms and legs braided in a casual embrace.īeth Daniel, and the gallery that followed her at this LPGA tournament, paid no attention to the couple. Amid gay pride celebrations in New York this week, the issue still evokes passion, fear and ignorance among athletes, spectators and sponsors. Homosexuality in sports is gaining acceptance, albeit more lowly than in the fields of entertainment and politics. A gay major leaguer’s death from AIDS revives allegations of homophobia in baseball. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010.Editor’s note: A TV commentator’s reported remarks about lesbians in the LPGA ignites a storm of controversy. Fernandez was also a distant cousin of actor José Ferrer. Her long-time partner was Jane Geddes, a former LPGA golfer who became an executive with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). She is director of tennis at Chelsea Piers in Connecticut. In all Fernandez won 69 WTA Tour doubles titles, adding two singles titles.įernandez became a tennis coach and entrepreneur, and earned a college degree from the University of South Florida in 2003. She won 14 of her 17 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside Russian player Natasha Zvereva. She won a doubles Grand Slam each year from 1990-97, and in 1992-94, won three of the four titles. Gigi Fernandez won 17 Grand Slam doubles titles – two Australians, six French, four Wimbledons, and five US Opens. Gigi also won two gold medals, in both singles and doubles at the 1983 Pan American Games, representing her native Puerto Rico. Fernandez later became one of the world’s top players, especially in doubles, and competed at the 19 Olympics for the United States, winning the doubles gold medal both times alongside her namesake Mary Joe Fernandez, who is no relation. Gigi Fernandez was a Puerto Rico native who played for the island nation at the 1984 Olympics in the tennis demonstration event.
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