Tennis great Margaret Court stirred controversy at this year’s Australian Open with his vocal opposition to same-sex marriage. She was taken to task by activists on the issue and by tennis legends Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. As the event was ending this past weekend, Navratilova, right, wrote an open letter to Court that [...]
Posts under ‘Tennis’
College tennis player comes out to “It’s Raining Men”
Brian Healey is captain of the men’s tennis team at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont. By Brian Healey I came out to two of my best friends on one of Saint Michael’s most storied days of revelry. P-Day at Saint Mike’s is our answer to the traditional “Spring Weekend” before finals. It feels like [...]
Laura Robson wears rainbow hair ribbon at Australian Open
British tennis player Laura Robson wore a rainbow hair ribbon at the Australian Open on Sunday, and she was well aware that the gesture made a statement about equality for LGBT people. She said, according to The Guardian: “It was just a rainbow-coloured hairband,” Robson said. “I didn’t see anything about a protest today. I [...]
Gay activist wants ‘Margaret Court’ removed from Aussie Open. Tennis Australia responds.
Australian gay activist Kerryn Phelps wants anti-gay tennis legend Margaret Court’s (right) name erased from the Australian Open court that has hosted so many matches. She Tweeted earlier today: “How about changing the name of the Aust Open venue?” Tennis Australia released a statement today distancing itself from Court’s political and religious views while embracing [...]
Margaret Court converts homosexuals, is going to the Australian Open, and you can’t stop her!
The homophobia of tennis legend Margaret Court has been well-documented for years. Last year it came to the fore again as Australians struggle with the question of same-sex marriage; Court has been vocally opposed to it from the dais in her church. Now some folks have started a Facebook page advocating rainbow flags over Margaret [...]
St. Michael’s College athletics teams combine for awesome It Gets Better video
This is cool — players from the men’s and women’s basketball teams, men’s hockey team and tennis team have combined to produce an It Gets Better video for St. Michael’s College in Vermont. One of the editors of the video is Brian Healey, captain of the Purple Knights men’s tennis team, who says this: I’m [...]
Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King fire back at Margaret Court’s anti-gay statements
Last week, tennis great Margaret Court lashed out against gay people and gay marriage; Her homophobia has become a lasting theme in her retirement. Out lesbians Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King both returned fire this weekend. Navratilova told the Tennis Channel: Seems to me a lot of people have evolved as has the Bible, [...]
Renee Richards gets ESPN treatment
The documentary film ‘Renee,’ about transgender tennis player Renee Richards, will air tonight at 8pm as part of ESPN’s ’30 for 30′ documentary series. Richards was originally denied eligibility to play in the women’s U.S. Open in 1976; Her legal victory in U.S. courts winning the right to play is our #12 most important moment [...]
Moment #2: Martina Navratilova comes out
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1981. You know her by one word: Martina. She is not only one of the greatest lesbian athletes of all time, not only one of the greatest tennis players of all time, not only one of the most important lesbians of [...]
Moment #3: Tennis great Billie Jean King outed
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1981: On Aug. 12, 2009, Billie Jean King was at the White House with 15 other prominent Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was honored for her contributions to fights for gay and women’s rights. When she received [...]
Moment #12: Renee Richards wins right to play in women’s U.S. Open
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 1977. In 1976 the United States Tennis Association barred female transgender tennis player Renee Richards from playing as a woman in the U.S. Open. The issue at hand was a born-female rule, and the USTA said Richards would have to submit [...]
Who’s hotter in Armani underwear: David Beckham, Rafael Nadal or Cristiano Ronaldo?
David Beckham has been the poster child for athletes willing to strip down and show off their gorgeous bodies. Most notably he’s done it for Armani underwear. Now come new photos and videos of tennis great Rafael Nadal following Beckham’s lead…in nothing but his Armanis. We saw a batch of them before, but the latest [...]
Serena Williams loses badly, Novak Djokovic throws Rafael Nadal a curve ball
After a wet U.S. Open that left a bad taste in the mouths of some players, it was what came out of the mouth of a runner-up that has left many scratching their heads. As (28) Serena Williams was in the middle of losing the women’s final to (9) Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-3, in embarrassing [...]
Moment #30: Athens Summer Olympics has 11 out athletes
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Olympics, 2004. There had been the occasional out athlete at the Olympics before, but 2004 was a coming out party for Olympians. All told at least 11 openly gay athletes participated in the Olympics in the birthplace of the Games. From [...]
Moment #51: Amelie Mauresmo wins Wimbledon
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Tennis, 2006. Amelie Mauresmo seemingly had nothing to prove. She had reached the world No. 1 ranking in 2004 and was the first lesbian to reach the pinnacle of women’s tennis after publicly declaring her homosexuality. Yet the reputation that built around [...]