Gay for Play: The Best Queer Sports Movies of All Time
When someone says “queer sports movies” what titles come to mind? Bend It Like Beckham? A League of Their Own? Love and Basketball? Bring It On?
If your first thought is subtext, you’re not alone. These films still hold a grasp on our collective hearts unlike any queer sports movies where the queerness is explicit. Despite queer people’s major involvement in sports — especially in women’s sports — Hollywood has long neglected our stories.
That’s finally starting to change.
Today NYAD, the true story of lesbian swimmer Diana Nyad, was released on Netflix and it joins a series of other recent sports movies that aim to fill in this long-held gap. In Hollywood and beyond, more queer sports movies are being made every year, but there still aren’t enough. You’ll notice this list is lacking in trans movies — something I’ve personally tried to change with my trans girl soccer movie but after two failed development processes, no luck. You’ll also notice, despite the very queer WNBA, there isn’t a single movie here about women’s basketball — something my far more successful friends have tried to change, also no luck.
Nevertheless, as we ask for more, let’s celebrate what does exist. This list has queer women testing their physical limits, queer men confronting their toxic masculinity, and even a few cute and sporty gay romances. The definition of sports is nebulous, but I decided not to include movies about dance or skateboarding and only one movie from the canon of queer cheerleading. There are also quite a few queer sports movies not available or not yet released in the U.S. that I wasn’t able to watch!
Brush off your cleats, pump up your balls, and join us in celebrating the very best explicitly queer sports movies of all time.
Queer Sports Movies Not Yet Released In the U.S.:
Golden Delicious (dir. Jason Karman, 2022)
Marinette (dir. Virginie Verrier, 2023)
Summer with Hope (dir. Sadaf Foroughi, 2022)
Queer Sports Movies Not Currently Available In the U.S.:
Ciao Bella (dir. Mani Maserrat-Agah, 2007)
Guys and Balls (dir. Sherry Hormann, 2004)
Like It Is (dir. Paul Oremland, 1998)
The Shiny Shrimps (dir. Maxime Govare and Cédric Le Gallo, 2019)
Zen In the Ice Rift (dir. Margherita Ferri, 2018)
Queer Movies That Feature Sports But Don’t Center Sports:
Absent (dir. Marco Berger, 2011)
Blue Jean (dir. Georgia Oakley, 2022)
Breakfast with Scot (dir. Laurie Lynd, 2007)
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (dir. Greg Berlanti, 2000)
Crush (dir. Sammi Cohen, 2022)
The Half Of It (dir. Alice Wu, 2020)
Queer Sports Movies That Didn’t Make the Cut:
1:54 (dir. Yan England, 2016)
Beautiful Boxer (dir. Ekachai Uekrongtham, 2003)
Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (dir. Steven Hilliard Stern, 1997)
Bruised (dir. Halle Berry, 2020)
Boys (dir. Mischa Kamp, 2014)
Eleven Men Out (dir. Róbert I. Douglas, 2005)
Like a Virgin (dir. Lee Hae-Jun and Lee Hae-young, 2006)
Morgan (dir. Michael D. Akers, 2012)
The Pass (dir. Ben A. Williams, 2016)
Summer Storm (dir. Marco Kreuzpaintner, 2004)
The Top 12 Queer Sports Movies of All Time
12. Handsome Devil (2016)
dir. John Butler
If you liked “can you play basketball and do the school play,” you’ll love “can you play rugby and be gay.” This Irish charmer may hit familiar beats but it’s noteworthy for being the rare coming-out-age movie to center friendship and mentorship over romance. It also features a wonderful performance from Andrew Scott in the classic role of gay English teacher.
11. Play It to The Bone (1999)
dir. Ron Shelton
Universally panned upon its release, and still disliked by most today, Ron Shelton’s least known sports movie isn’t exactly an undiscovered masterpiece. That said, I do think it’s deserving of a better reputation — especially since its 90s sexism and homophobia have aged into something that feels more like commentary than offense. Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson play best friends and has-been boxers who get the chance to fight each other for a title shot. The movie follows the two of them on their road trip to Vegas for the fight, alongside their shared ex-girlfriend, played by Lolita Davidovich, and a horny stranger played by Lucy Liu. At one point, Banderas’ character admits that in the past he’s tried being “a fag.” Maybe intended as a homophobic joke — and certainly crass — Banderas, who got his start portraying queer characters in Almodóvar films, grounds the moment in reality. His character reads now simply as a bisexual man — a bisexual man trapped in the toxic world of boxing.
10. Cassandro (2023)
dir. Roger Ross Williams
Based on the true story of Saúl Armendáriz a.k.a. Cassandro, this crowdpleaser set in the world of lucha libre wrestling is an unabashed celebration of flamboyance. Gael García Bernal plays the title role, an exótico who finds strength in his overt queerness, and through that embrace of self achieves success. Bernal is joined by a fantastic supporting cast that includes Raúl Castillo, Bad Bunny, and queer icon Roberta Colindrez. Most male-led queer sports movies center masc athletes who keep their queerness hidden; Cassandro is a femme icon who chose to be loud and proud.
9. Battle of the Sexes (2017)
dir. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Speaking of icons, Billie Jean King is a queer icon, a tennis icon, and an icon of the sports world at large. This movie does her legacy justice with pathos and charm. Focusing on her much-publicized match against Bobby Riggs, the film acts as both a portrait of King and a rallying cry for women’s sports. It also features a very sultry haircut scene between Emma Stone as King and Andrea Riseborough as her hairdresser and lover Marilyn Barnett. This Hollywood tale may brush over the pricklier aspects of King’s story — especially with Barnett— but it’s still a rousing story of lesbians, tennis, and putting an annoying straight man in his place.
8. Punch (2022)
dir. Welby Ings
This recent New Zealand film hits many familiar beats of both queer coming-of-age movies and boxing movies. It also happens to hit them with the skill of a champion fighter. By focusing on specificity of character, the film grounds its clichés. This is a beautifully crafted film that’s emotional yet never maudlin. It also touches upon the specific challenge of today’s queer youth who are exposed to celebrations of Gay Pride while still facing discrimination — overt and subtle — from within their communities.
7. Signature Move (2017)
dir. Jennifer Reeder
Before Jennifer Reeder was making idiosyncratic horror features and Fawzia Mirza was embracing full auteur status, they teamed up for this late-in-life coming-of-age lucha libre romance. Mirza plays Zaynab, a Pakistani lesbian lawyer who is training as a wrestler on the side. Her life is complicated when she begins a romance with a woman played by Sari Sanchez who challenges her to fully embrace herself. One-third romcom, one-third family dramedy, and one-third queer sports movie, all the pieces click for an entertaining, nuanced, and heartfelt experience.
6. Sarah Prefers to Run (2013)
dir. Chloé Robichaud
Days of Happiness director Chloé Robichaud’s debut feature follows another ambitious woman at a different stage in her life. As Sarah cautiously steps into young adulthood, all she wants to do is run. She gets offered a position on the track team at McGill, and, in order to shoulder the financial cost, enters into a questionable, and possibly dangerous, financial agreement with an older male roommate. The film lives in Sarah’s point-of-view, never providing easy answers while still making Sarah’s queer feelings obvious even as they elude Sarah herself. Grounded in a melancholy realism, Robichaud’s film is a quiet and painful tribute to the complex simplicities of youth. It also has an all-time great queer karaoke scene.
5. Backspot (2023)
dir. D.W. Waterson
This film hasn’t been released yet, but I was lucky enough to see it at TIFF! When putting together this list, I couldn’t decide whether to include cheer. I would never question the athleticism required, but I also wouldn’t question the athleticism required for dance and I decided I had to leave that off. Well, D.W. Waterson’s debut starring Devery Jacobs, Kudakwashe Rutendo, and Evan Rachel Wood, made the inclusion of cheer undeniable. This is an excellent film about a young athlete pushing her body, her mind, and her personal life to the limits and should be in any future conversations of the best queer sports movies. (Full disclosure: I know D.W. and Devery but, even with my bias, I really think you’re all going to love this when it comes out next year.)
4. Mario (2018)
dir. Marcel Gisler
While a lot of films on this list embody that classic sports movie triumph, this Swiss drama takes a harsher look at homophobia in professional sports. New player Leon immediately catches the eye of star player Mario, but their budding romance quickly gets in the way of their chances at advancing to professional soccer careers. The film wisely avoids melodrama, focusing instead on the painful day-to-day experience of having to lie about who you are in order to play the sport you love.
3. NYAD (2023)
dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
When I saw this film at TIFF, I used it as an excuse to examine transphobia in sports. But now that the real-life Diana Nyad has changed her stance on trans women inclusion in athletics, I just want to celebrate it as a remarkable entry in the canon of queer sports movies. Annette Bening as Nyad and Jodie Foster as Bonnie, Nyad’s best friend and coach, have a crackling friendship chemistry. It’s the sort of relationship between two older queer women rarely shown on-screen. And the swimming sequences are as exceptional as the character development. The film’s directors have a history in extreme sport documentary and use those skills to immerse us in Nyad’s mission. It’s an exhilarating experience and wonderful portrait of a woman who tested the limits of not only her own body but the human body.
2. Personal Best (1982)
dir. Robert Towne
This is the classic queer sports movie and it’s a classic for a reason. Starring Mariel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly as track and field competitors to lovers, Robert Towne’s film is a sweaty, sexy, groundbreaking masterpiece of athletics and lesbianism. While not without its moments of casual 80s bigotry, overall the movie holds up as a portrait of two women who bond over their desire to be the very best. This movie is Capricorn4Capricorn representation and, as a queer woman Capricorn myself, I love it dearly.
1. The Novice (2021)
dir. Lauren Hadaway
Pulsing with raw energy, Lauren Hadaway’s feature directorial debut was inspired by her own experience rowing crew. This is a movie made by an athlete, made by an artist, who approaches her craft as a filmmaker with the same attention to detail as her ambitious protagonist approaches her sport. Isabelle Fuhrman plays Alex, a college freshman we learn little about beyond her compulsive need to be the best novice on the crew team. By stripping down the story to bare essentials, Hadaway trusts in her cinematography, sound design, and stunning lead performance. This is the best queer sports movie of all time, because it commits to an athlete’s point of view. Everything but the goal of being the best is mere distraction. We are with Alex as she trains, as she pushes, as she destroys herself for a singular purpose. It’s a frightening portrait of athletic determination and a stunning cinematic achievement.
What are your favorite queer sports movies of all time?
Also.Also.Also: The Olympics May Have Double Standards, but in THIS House We Stan Sha’Carri Richardson
Feature photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
I’ve been binging Inventing Anna since Saturday, and yes it’s not my favorite Shonda Rhimes production, but also I can’t seem to think about anything else?
(If you’ve never read Jessica Pressler’s original story that the mini-series is based on, you absolutely should! I still remember reading it for the first time — and much like the tv show, I put my life on hold to binge it — you won’t regret it.)
Saw This, Thought of You
Again I remind you that in THIS house, we stand with queer athlete Sha’Carri Richardson:
https://twitter.com/itskerrii/status/1493209274457153536?s=20&t=k6Hqtn8VzizxYYTrjgZ-_A
Sha’Carri Richardson Sees a Double Standard in Allowing Kamila Valieva to Compete. And yes, in case you forgot, Sha’Carri Richardson is famously some kinda gay, her girlfriend styles her for her races, and within just days of becoming a household name as the fan-favorite for fastest woman in the world, Sha’Carri tweeted out this rainbow flag emoji. She never wants you to forget where she came from, and we love that around here.
🌈
— Sha’Carri Richardson (@itsshacarri) June 19, 2021
There’s No Escaping the 5 Love Languages. “Thirty years on, a Christian pastor’s theory of romantic communication is as popular as ever.” Just a little post-Valentine’s Day content for you. The amount of queer people I know who subscribe to the 5 love languages given its conservative, Christian, patriarchal roots — is absolutely mind-blowing, to say the least!
The Enduring Appeal of This Clunky, Old Vibrator. “The magic wand has ben No. 1 since 1968.” More post-Valentine’s Day content!
I Used to Crave a Fairytale Romance — Now I Realize Love Is All Around Me. Yessika Salgado is one of my favorite writers and poets and I would literally read a phonebook if she wrote it. Give yourself the treat of her essay!
“Return to Normal” Has Pushed Schools to a Crisis Point
Queer as in F*ck You
Ughhh, I think Lena Waithe is getting… an Adidas collection? That’s what’s happening here, right?
The New York Times did a series on Black Love for its iconic Modern Love column (you know, just sliding it in for Black History Month), and I enjoyed this one: The Lesbian Writer and Her Flamboyant Gay Husband. “Peter taught me to laugh at fate as we lived our dream. At least for a while.”
‘Veneno’ Star Isabel Torres Has Died of Lung Cancer at Age 52 (and if you haven’t seen Veneno yet, you absolutely must. It’s such gorgeous storytelling and I’m requiring it.)
Political Snacks
Also.Also.Also: Dyke Ice Drama! Meet the Multiple Ex-Wives of the US and Canadian Olympic Hockey Teams
Feature photo by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images
First of all, HAPPY ARIANA DEBOSE DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!!
https://twitter.com/carmencitaloves/status/1491097842764894210
Did you miss our coverage of today’s historic Oscar nominations for both Ariana and Kristen Stewart? We ran some many stats and double checked so many lists for you, enjoy!
Queer as in F*ck You
Dyke Ice Drama! For Married Pairs of Ex-Players, the U.S.–Canada Women’s Hockey Rivalry Is Uniquely Complicated. “The Olympics stir up more than the ordinary border battle for the three couples of former American and Canadian athletes, who have bridged the divide to build lives together away from the ice.”
There Is No Climate Justice Without Trans Rights
Ok read this sweet, funny description from Gabrielle Korn and then tell me you don’t immediately want to read this otherwise mundane beauty feature? “My beauty routine is in Cup Of Jo, complete with times to stare into the void, accepting stinky pits, and lots of comments where people just want to know about my wife’s hair:” My Beauty Uniform: Gabrielle Korn. Stinky arm pits! I’m in!
This new restaurant opening in NYC has had our team so excited!! HAGS Will Be Queer First, and a Restaurant Second
Speaking of the Autostraddle team, Drew Gregory has been binging the Jackass movies lately and I was very confused about that? But this helped, “Jackass” Made Me the Trans Woman I Am by Niko Stratis (another forever fav!) for Bitch
More Gay and Lesbian People are Vaccinated than Straight People, CDC Finds
Big News from TikTok! TikTok Bans Misgendering, Deadnaming Trans People
I’m still grieving.
https://twitter.com/TrevellAnderson/status/1491088550728986625
And here is the feature, by Kimora Lee Simmons (definitive designer of my early 00s aesthetic), As told to Marjon Carlos: The André I Knew
Saw This, Thought of You
NOBODY! ASKED! FOR THIS! Build-A-Bear Gets Horny With ‘After Dark’ Bears for Adults
“Last September, my partner Renee moved from Singapore to Los Angeles so we could start a life together — a grand and undeniably romantic gesture usually reserved for lovers. Which Renee and I are decidedly not.” My Platonic Life Partnership Went Viral On TikTok, & People Have A Lot Of Questions
Warsan Shire is my favorite poet (and also not for nothing, Beyoncé’s favorite poet, because we both have exquisite taste) and I’m so excited for her new collection! Warsan Shire’s Portraits of Somalis in Exile
How bell hooks Raised A Generation Of Radical Feminists Leading With Love
Because Your Algorithm Says So: Examining Our (Sometimes Toxic) Relationship With Our AI Overlords.
A weird pivot from the previous link, but this is cute? sorry! AI-Generated Valentine’s Cards (and there’s a store!)
What Went Wrong At Glossier? “Last month, Glossier laid off a third of its staff and CEO Emily Weiss admitted to making ‘mistakes’. How did the much-loved beauty brand fall from grace?”
8 HBCUs Received Bomb Threats for the Second Time in 2022. A SECOND F***ING TIME!!!!!
Political Snacks
Congratulations to Chantale Wong — who just made history as first out lesbian, senate-confirmed ambassador
56-31: Senate confirms Chantale Wong as U.S. Director of the Asian Development Bank, becoming the first LGBTQ person of color as well as the first gay woman with the rank of ambassador. pic.twitter.com/p3aNb8MTRY
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) February 8, 2022
Meet the 23 Gay Women Competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics
Feature image collage: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images // Tom Weller/VOIGT/DeFodi Images via Getty Images // Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images // Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off its razzlin’, dazzlin’, flipplin’, slidin’ 16-day event with a fireworks-heavy opening ceremony this morning in Beijing, and if you’re anything like us, you’re cheering for Team Gay, just like we did in this year’s Summmer Olympics! There are fewer participants overall in the Winter Olympics — because there’s only a third as many events in the Winter Games — which means there aren’t quite as many openly LGBTQ+ athletes to cheer for, but there’s still more than ever! When I first started writing about the Olympics back in the early aughts, the only gays were basically a handful Dutch speedskaters; now there’s seven openly gay players on Canada’s women’s hockey team alone!
Here’s a quick and handy guide on how to watch all the events (Peacock!), and below is a list of gay women Olympians and where to follow them throughout the Games. They are sorted alphabetically, by last name. Please let us know if we missed any confirmed openly queer women/NB athletes on this list!
Erin Ambrose (Canada)
Hockey
Megan Bankes (Canada)
Biathlon
Ebba Berglund (Sweden)
Hockey
Brittany Bowe (USA)
Speedskating
Belle Brockhoff (Australia)
Snowboarding
Alex Carpenter (USA)
Hockey
Emily Clark (Canada)
Hockey
Mélodie Daoust (Canada)
Hockey
Makayla Gerken Schofield (Great Britain)
Skiing
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYuGPpbKTIT/
Amber Glenn (USA)
Figure Skating
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (Austria)
Ski Jumping
Brianne Jenner (Canada)
Hockey
Anna Kjellbin (Sweden)
Hockey
Aneta Lédlová (Czech Republic)
Hockey
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZVhQUPPONZ/
Kim Meylemans (Belgium)
Skeleton
Sandra Naeslund (Sweden)
Skiing
Sarka Pancochova (Czech Republic)
Snowboarding
Jamie Lee Rattray (Canada)
Hockey
Jill Saulnier (Canada)
Hockey
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZMxnbApgY6/
Ronja Savolainen (Finland)
Hockey
Nicole Silveira (Brazil)
Skeleton
Ireen Wüst (Netherlands)
Speedskating
Micah Zandee-Hart (Canada)
Hockey
Celebrate The 52 LGBTQ Women and Non-Binary Athletes Who Medaled at the Tokyo Olympics
Feature image: Raven Saunders by Christian Petersen/Getty Images // Chelsea Gray by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images // Yulimar Rojas by Kaz Photography/Getty Images // Quinn by Naomi Baker/Getty Images
The Tokyo Olympics were such a surreal experience: watching athletes from around the globe come together to compete in delayed events during the middle of a still-raging worldwide pandemic. There were no fans. There was deeply valid criticism of the racist and transphobic legistaltive decisions of the International Olympic Committee. And there were sports. So many sports. So many dreams — crushed and realized — and stories and unforgettable moments. These were also the most openly gay Olympics by far, and so they were also the Olympics where the most gay people medaled. By my count, 52 LGBTQ women and non-binary athletes brought home gold, silver, and bronze. Natalie and I have compiled this list for you of all the winners, with their Instagrams, so you can follow them home like you followed them through the games!
Winners are listed first by medal, then by home country.
GOLD
Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil
10K Swim
Quinn, Canada
Soccer
Quinn is also the first trans, non-binary athlete to medal at the Olympics!
Kadeisha Buchanan, Canada
Soccer
Erin McLeod, Canada
Soccer
Kailen Sheridan, Canada
Soccer
Stephanie Labbe, Canada
Soccer
Amandine Leynaud, France
Handball
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Alexandra Lacrabère, France
Handball
Amandine Buchard, France
Mixed Team Judo 52KG
Kellie Harrington, Ireland
Boxing, Lightweight
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQOONUtl6VT/
Emma Twigg, New Zealand
Rowing, Single Sculls
Gayle Broughton, New Zealand
Rugby
Ruby Tui, New Zealand
Rugby
Kelly Brazier, New Zealand
Rugby
Portia Woodman, New Zealand
Rugby
Anne Veenendaal, Netherlands
Field Hockey
Sue Bird, USA
Basketball
Chelsea Gray, USA
Basketball
Brittney Griner, USA
Basketball
Breanna Stewart, USA
Basketball
Diana Taurasi, USA
Basketball
Photo by Meng Yongmin/Xinhua via Getty Images
Stefanie Dolson, USA
3×3 Basketball
Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela
Triple Jump
SILVER
Ana Carolina, Brazil
Volleyball
Astrid Guyart, France
Fencing
Nesthy Petecio, Philippines
Boxing
Katarzyna Zillmann, Poland
Rowing
Jolanta Ogar, Poland
Sailing, Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Caroline Seger, Sweden
Soccer
Magda Eriksson, Sweden
Soccer
Lina Hurtig, Sweden
Soccer
Hedvig Lindahl, Sweden
Soccer
Ally Carda, USA
Softball
Amanda Chidester, USA
Softball
Haylie McCleney, USA
Softball
Raven Saunders, USA
Shot-put
Erica Sullivan, USA
1500m Freestyle Swim
Hannah Roberts, USA
BMX Freestyle
BRONZE
Leah Wilkinson, Britain
Field Hockey
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRoYO5Bskjs/
Sarah Jones, Britain
Field Hockey
Susannah Townsend, Britain
Field Hockey
Larissa Franklin, Canada
Softball
Joey Lye, Canada
Softball
Jasmin Grabowski, Germany
Judo, 78KG
Raz Hershko, Israel
Judo, Mixed Teams
Lucilla Boari, Italy
Archery
Sanne van Dijke, Netherlands
Judo, 70KG
Tierna Davidson, USA
Soccer
Adrianna Franch, USA
Soccer
Kelley O’Hara, USA
Soccer
Megan Rapinoe, USA
Soccer
Kristie Mewis, USA
Soccer
Also.Also.Also: When You Defeat All the Other Masc Lesbians, Raven Saunders Is the Final Boss
Feature image of lesbian icon Raven Saunders by David Ramos/Getty Images, Matthias Hangst/Getty Images, and INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images
Today I’m having a left over taco salad for dinner that I made last night at 2am because I had insomnia and couldn’t sleep. WHEEEEEEEE!
Queer as in F*ck You
I fucking love this.
When you defeat all the other masc lesbians. This is the final boss!!! pic.twitter.com/9QHx4de3lO
— Domenic The Raven (@GiveMe1Shot) August 1, 2021
Raven Saunders Won Olympic Silver, Is Being Investigated for Onstage Protest (in case you forgot that protesting during the flag ceremony is now against Olympic rules, a fun little racist fact for your Tuesday evening.) It was also announced today that Raven’s mom has passed away, so we are deeply sending all of our love.
And speaking of things that I love, that list includes when Black queer people get to interview other Black queer people and when I tell you that Tre’vell Anderson’s feature profile of Lil Nas X for OUT is my favorite thing I read today and should absolutely be your evening MUST READ (yes all caps), please know I mean that. I really, really do.
All Hail Erica Sullivan, Olympic Silver Medalist, Swiftie, and Queer Icon. “The swimmer isn’t ‘just the gay weirdo on stan Twitter’ anymore.” Ok this lil nerd is very adorable!
Italian Olympic Archer Lucilla Boari Comes Out After Winning Bronze. “A surprise video message from her girlfriend at a press conference led Boari to come out publicly.”
Why Should the Church Reach Out to LGBTQ People? Some Shocking Statistics Can Answer That.
“Being a trans woman can often feel like being an object with no permanence.” Niko Stratis is one of my favorite writers and I really appreciated reading her voice today, As a Trans Woman, There Is No Such Thing as a Simple Walk around the Neighbourhood.
Trans Artist Cassils Is Auctioning Off Cans of Human… Poop. “The poop tins, which are bundled with NFTs representing the canned crap, will be sold on July 29 at Phillips”
How TikTok Became a Haven for Queer and Questioning Kids
Am I including this JUST for the title? 100% I am: DaBaby Is Losing DaMoney and DaBookings After Homophobic Rant
🚨🚨 New Kehlani Dropped 🚨🚨
(No shade, but also what a great time to remind yall to read When Will Black Queer Artists Realize That Fat Black Girls Need Love Too? A conversation between Shelli and Dani that I’m so proud we published this week. Get into it!!)
Saw This, Thought of You
From Himani “not a ton of new info here but a good read nonetheless,” It’s Hard to Be a Moral Person. Technology Is Making It Harder.
Simone Biles’ Balance Beam Final Is One of Her Career’s Greatest Moments. Congratulations to the GOAT on her return and her Bronze.
How Black Foragers Find Freedom in the Natural World
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Sold for $900 Million to Media Company Backed by Blackstone (I preferred the Jezebel headline, Reese Witherspoon Gets $900 Million to Let Two White Dudes Help Her Tell Stories About Women)
In the nearly 20 months since I took over this column, I don’t think I’ve ever highlighted a feature about a straight cis man before, and that’s how you know Tressie McMillan Cotton put her whole entire foot in this Puff Daddy cover story: “I Got a Second Chance”: From Puff Daddy to Diddy to Love
Political Snacks
Just 0.19 Percent of Elected Officials Are LGBTQ, a Massive Gap from General Population
I don’t even know what to say, everything today is about Andrew Cuomo and if it brought back memories for you about anything that’s happened in your own life, know that we are here for you and we love you: Biden Calls on Cuomo to Resign after Bombshell Sexual Harassment Report
The History of LGBTQ Women in the Olympics
Among all the uncertainty that saw the 2020 Tokyo Olympics delayed, the shift by a year brings up an overlooked centenary: 2021 marks a hundred years since the first international multi-sport women’s athletics event. But that event pointedly wasn’t the Olympic Games, but a rival Women’s Olympiad created to protest women’s eligibility to enter the official games.
I’m not sure spoiler alerts are pertinent when it comes to discussing history, but let’s just say this wasn’t the first and won’t be the last instance of injustice in the perpetual tug o’war between purported Olympic values and the reality of systematic exclusion.
The Early Years
Women had been at the Olympics in minuscule numbers since the second edition of the modern games in 1900. However, the sports they were permitted to participate in were more like an afternoon’s leisure activities at the country club than sport as we know it today. So, sailing, croquet and equestrianism were in; anything that might cause a sweat to break was definitively out.
Thrashing around for a specific man to blame, instead of merely the patriarchy as a whole, it’s easy to point the finger at “father of the modern games” Pierre de Coubertin, who said women’s sports were “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and we are not afraid to add: incorrect.”
After many years of failing to persuade the fledgling International Olympic Committee that women could actually run for 100 yards without passing out, Frenchwoman Alice Milliat and a bunch of her supporters finally took matters into their own hands. The Women’s Olympiad ran from 1921, bringing together hundreds of European women to compete in track and field events, as well as basketball, gymnastics and others. In parallel, Milliat’s association put on larger Women’s World Games from 1922-1930, seeking to create a truly global rival to the Olympics.
Original caption: Her leg muscles standing out like steel cables, Stella Walsh, representing Poland, tightens up to heave the discus during the event in the Los Angeles Olympic games. Stella placed sixth, with Lillian Copeland of the United States tossing the platter a distance of 133 feet 2 inches to smash the world and Olympic record of 129 feet 11.9 inches. // Photo by Getty Images
Hundreds of sporting bodies in one place means one thing: queers abounded. Some notable participants in these rival games include masculine French lesbian Violette Morris (who later collaborated with the Nazis, so let’s not dwell there), Czech trans man Zdeněk Koubek, intersex British trans man Mark Weston, and sprinter Stanisława Walasiewicz (aka Stella Walsh — more on her later). It’s fair to say from the earliest delineation of sport into “men’s” and “women’s” events that these categories never catered to the realities of their competitors.
The mainstream Olympics slowly allowed women to trickle into more events, including the cruelly sidelined arts competitions that ran from 1912-1948. These events would spur on the first-ever queer Olympic medallist, German artist Renee Sintenis, who won bronze for her sculpture Le Footballeur in Amsterdam, 1928.
The Amsterdam games finally allowed women’s events in track athletics — with strict rules about how long their shorts could be. However, after false rumours were spread about women collapsing after some of the longer running races, the events were scaled back again. Incredibly, women didn’t run longer than 200m until 1960.
Competitors in women’s events of the early 20th century were constantly straddling the line between their athleticism being outright dismissed or viewed as too masculine. Queer sports legend Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the first lesbian gold medallist in athletics events in 1932, was a trailblazer in multiple sports throughout the century, yet still derided as too manly.
Original caption: Breaking world and Olympic records seems to be a pastime for Babe Didrikson of the U.S., who smashed another criterion when she sprinted the 80-meter hurdle in 11.7 seconds in the final of the event. The former Olympic record was 11.8 seconds, set by Ms. Didrickson during a heat, and the world record was 12.2 seconds. Photo shows Didrikson, Michi Nakanishi, Simone Schaller, and B. Taylor going over the first heat hurdles. // Photo by Getty Images
Gender panic dogged many successful athletes. After winning 100m gold in 1936, lesbian sprinter Helen Stephens of the US and Polish silver medallist and former champion Stella Walsh were accused of being “male imposters” because of their audacity in running very fast. Stephens was subjected to a physical gender check which, considering the medical standards of the time, would have been as gross and intrusive as it sounds. Cisgendered Stephens “passed” but had Walsh been subjected to the test, her life would almost certainly have been upended, as after her death in 1980 an autopsy found her to be biologically intersex. Despite living her life as a woman, you can bet that speculation over the validity of her achievements was as rife and unnecessary as similar conversations today.
So-called sex verification testing became widespread in the 1950s, morphing into chromosome testing by the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, a practice that would remain mandatory for competitors in women’s events all the way to Atlanta ‘96. Along the way, dozens athletes saw their careers and lives ruined; who knows what monumental Olympic performances we may have missed out on.
Athlete Activists
For most of the 20th century, it’s no surprise that the majority of queer athletes were extremely closeted. It’s also astonishing to remember how ridiculously young many Olympians are; even in the most progressive nations, not everyone will have their sexuality shit together in the prime of their athletic youth.
After coming out, many queer Olympians followed up their sporting careers in more prominently gay ways, including the two youngest-ever queer women competitors. At 15 years and 14 days, swimmer Marian Lay represented Canada at the 1964 Tokyo games, returning four years later to get a bronze medal in Mexico. Throughout and after her time competing, Lay campaigned relentless for women’s equity in sport, becoming a recognised sports leader in Canada. A prominent member of the Vancouver Winter Olympics bid for 2010, she helped organised the Pride House for that games.
Also 15 when she competed in the javelin at the 1952 games, Marjorie Larney followed up her Olympic career with a career in activism, specialising in youth LGBT rights. Practically ancient when she swam for Australia aged 16 in Melbourne in 1956, Susan McGreivy went on to become a lesbian activist and civil rights attorney for the ACLU.
Karin Büttner-Janz dismounts from the balance beam // Photo by Karl-Heinz Friedrich/ullstein bild via Getty Images
The youngest-ever queer medallist was German gymnast Karin Büttner-Janz, who did not go on to become an activist, but I will forgive her because instead she became an orthopedic doctor that invented an artificial spinal disk!
My very favourite athlete-turned activist has to be Gail Marquis. The first Black queer Olympian and medallist with the USA women’s basketball team of 1976, Gail married her longtime partner Audrey Smaltz in New York in 2011, then worked with the Freedom to Marry campaign to extend the right to marry across all US states.
Perhaps the most famous LGBT Olympian of all, Caitlin Jenner, was obviously not out when she won gold in Montreal ‘76. Although she’s brought unprecedented visibility to trans women since coming out in 2015, her comments earlier this year about rights for trans women in sport show she’s not paving the way for LGBT athletes in the same way as her forbears.
Exponential Gay Growth
As I recently pointed out with stunning science, the amount of LGBT athletes has been growing exponentially in recent years. And yet, a queer woman didn’t compete openly at the Olympics until Swedish swimmer Helena Aberg in Seoul in 1988. So, what exactly has been in the vitamin water in the past couple of decades to see this incredibly uptick?
Putting aside the massive progressive strides in terms of LGBT equality in many countries over the past few decades, I have a theory that it’s not just sportspeople getting gayer, it’s that the Olympics is choosing the gayest sports.
Starting with basketball and handball in 1976, women’s events in many popular and extremely gay team sports began to get added to the programme. Field hockey followed in 1980 and 1988 saw women’s tennis feature as a full medal sport which, although not a team sport, has seen a long roster of lesbian legends compete at the Olympics, from Martina to Martinez to Mauresmo to…Sam Stosur (yes, I ran out of lesbian tennis players starting with M). Finally, the acknowledged behemoth of female and non-binary queerness that is soccer (aka football) debuted in 1996.
In terms of the Winter Olympics, the proportion of out athletes has been roughly similar to the summer editions, although ice hockey stands alone as the big team sport – bringing with it concordant gayness (it breaks my heart that curling is not outwardly gayer). Fortunately, a number of newer individual sports such as snowboarding have consistently repped well for queerness, and you can always rely on the Dutch speed-skating team (including the most decorated queer Olympian, Ireen Wüst) to single-handedly out-gay any other sport out there.
In truth, women didn’t have access to the full roster of Olympic events until London in 2012 when boxing was added. It was, of course, a lesbian who won the very first boxing gold — Great Britain’s Nicola Adams.
With each new sport added, we should expect to see no compromises in terms of what women can and can’t compete in, with accordingly gay results. For example, BMX Freestyle made its debut this year, with USA’s women’s team coming in 100% queer, as well as featuring Team USA’s first ever out trans competitor, Chelsea Wolfe.
The Return of Gender Panic
Before we get carried away in the giddy excitement of a queer present and future, let’s not ignore the resurgent scourge of gender testing. After the standout performances of Caster Semenya at the London and Rio games, and buoyed by a wave of transphobia, the arbitrary rules for competing in women’s events have swung away from chromosomes towards testosterone. Trying to chase the ever-changing rules has embroiled athletes such as Semenya and Dutee Chand in needless legal wrangling, ruining, if not ending lives of others.
Caster Semenya of South Africa competes in the Women’s 800m Semifinals on Day 13 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games // Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
I find this a decidedly 21st century take on this spurious “problem,” with the pretence of focus on science and a warped sense of fairness. Many have pointed out the fact that all the athletes barred from competing in Tokyo are Black and competing in the small list of events the IOC have decided to subject to heightened scrutiny. Which just happen to be the ones that Semenya is great at.
Laurel Hubbard, who we celebrate for making history as the first out trans woman to compete at an Olympics in Tokyo, acknowledged the support of her home Olympic Committee in New Zealand, in the face of needless yet sadly expected criticism. As it happened, she didn’t make it far in the competition. Had she made it to the podium, would weightlifting be the next to get special attention?
The history of queer women in a hundred years or more of sporting competition is littered with stunning achievement, but the ongoing controversies just show how much farther we have to go.
Also.Also.Also: Today Is for Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka ONLY
Feature image of Simone Biles by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images and Naomi Osaka by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
I’m know I usually use this intro space to meditate on what I’m having for dinner (tonight it’s eggplant fries and shrimp in a garlic butter sauce), but I’m going to be vulnerable with you.
The news about Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka both having such difficult ends to their Olympics yesterday (Simone might still compete in the individuals, I believe) has weighed on me. I’m a Black girl who wakes up every day and comes to work on this ‘lil website we love while fighting depression and anxiety — some days I do better than others. I am so grateful and proud that Naomi and Simone centered and prioritized their mental health. I also know what it feels like when your mental health keeps you from obtaining the goals you put your everything into, what it feels like when it seems the world is crumbling and your dreams were right there on the horizon, but in the end you have to stop to take care of yourself because if you don’t, who will? I keep thinking about Sha’Carri Richardson today, and how she self-medicated her grief and it cost her so much, but Megan Rapinoe is at the Olympics right now and using its platform to promote her sister’s cannabis/CBD company. It’s all related. I wish I had something more profound to say — but mostly I just feel really soft. And a little sad.
Sending all my love today to Black girls who deserve a little softness in a world that gives them everything but.
Queer as in F*ck You
In Louisiana, House of Tulip Provides Housing to Trans People of Color
Coming Out in the Year of Staying In. “I never felt like I could claim the label ‘queer.’ Quarantine gave me the opportunity.”
They Saved Chicago’s Last Lesbian Bar and Infused It with Black Queer Culture. “The new owners of Nobody’s Darling, which was previously known as Joie De Vine, have remodeled the space into an inclusive cocktail bar for queer women.”
Nonbinary Olympic Skateboarder Alana Smith Was Misgendered on TV. That goes with Unapologetically Themself: Nonbinary Olympian Shares Powerful Message and All the LGBTQ+ Olympians Who’ve Won Medals at the Tokyo Games (So Far)
Saw This, Thought of You
Simone Biles Says She Wasn’t Right Mentally During Olympic Final and Naomi Osaka Ousted from Olympic Tennis Tournament in 3rd Round by Marketa Vondrousova
Simone Biles Credits Naomi Osaka For Inspiring Her To ‘Focus On My Mental Health’
Heather actually found this one over the weekend, but whew is it related to today: Black Women on Team USA Have to Play Two Games. “Seven Olympians—including Gwen Berry, Keturah Orji, and Natalie Hinds—reflect on the overwhelming month before Tokyo.”
Also, Black Women Athletes Aren’t Your Performance Mules
And all of this brings us to The Ambivalence Olympics — “Can you still love the Games with so many reasons to loathe them?”
Covid Long-Haulers Get Disability Civil Rights Protections
As Infections Rise, C.D.C. Urges Some Vaccinated Americans to Wear Masks Again. The pandemic is not over. Please stay safe.
The Surprising Innovations of Pandemic-Era Sex
3 Rules for Middle-Age Happiness
Political Snacks
Today was the first day of the hearings on the January 6th Capitol Riots, here’s live updates. I found this one to be particularly harrowing: ‘I Have Kids,’ Capitol Officer Says He Pleaded as Rioters Beat Him
Meet The 13 Gay Women Basketball Players of the Tokyo Summer Olympics
Feature image of Chelsea Gray and Brittney Griner, two of the 13 Olympics women’s basketball gay players by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are finally underway!
There is, admittedly, a sense of “oh, we’re still doing this?” connected to the 2020 Summer Olympics: already delayed for a year due to the pandemic, the international event is forging on, despite another wave of COVID infections (including in the host nation) and disparate vaccination regiments (including less than 20% of Japanese citizens). But, somehow, we are still doing this and so, of course, the gays are ready to show up and show out.
If you’ve been watching the games thus far, it’s not your imagination: they are considerably gayer than in years past. According to Outsports, there are 163 publicly out LGBTQ athletes at this year’s games, compared to just 23 in 2012 and 56 in 2016. Among those, we count 14 basketball gays, listed below in alphabetical order.
A few points of note:
+ You’ll be able to watch twice as much basketball during these games, as the Olympics debuts the 3×3 format this year. It’s a much faster paced style of play that should be fun for even the most casual of basketball fans. Check out the highlights from Stefanie Dolson’s opening round 3×3 match-up for a taste of what you can expect.
+ So many adorable couples! On the one hand, you love to see it, but on the other: how’s a girl supposed to become an Olympic trophy wife — a natural extension our WNBA wife ambitions — if most of these Olympians are boo’d up?
+ The Olympics are a great time to spotlight international gay talent but most of the media I consume is still U.S.-centric so it’s possible (likely) that I’ve missed someone. If you know of a verifiably queer Olympian that we should highlight, hit me (@natthedem) or Heather (@theheatherhogan) up on Twitter, or drop a note in the A+ Priority Contact box (in the right sidebar on the Autostraddle home page) and we’ll try to include them.
Julie Allemand (BEL)
Club Teams: Basket Lattes Montpellier Agglomération (LFB), Indiana Fever (WNBA)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ_kP45Jfk3/
Sue Bird (USA)
Club Team: Seattle Storm (WNBA)
Marjorie Carpréaux
Club Team: Poznan (EBLK)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRCNTB5lC9j/
Stefanie Dolson (USA)
Event: 3×3 Basketball
Club Teams: Henan Phoenix (WCBA), Chicago Sky (WNBA)
Chelsea Gray (USA)
Club Teams: Spar Girona (LFB), Las Vegas Aces (WNBA)
Brittney Griner
Club Teams: UMMC Ekaterinburg (RPL), Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)
Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage (PUR)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLk_X2YhDbE/
Kim Mestdagh (BEL)
Leilani Mitchell (AUS)
Club Teams: Southside Flyers (WNBL), Washington Mystics (WNBA)
Dayshalee Salamán (PUR)
Club Teams: Cangrejeras (Puerto Rico)
Breanna Stewart
Club Teams: UMMC Ekaterinburg (RPL), Seattle Storm (WNBA)
Diana Taurasi
Club Teams: Phoenix Mercury (WNBA)
Ann Wauters (BEL)
Other Notable Gays: Shaina Pellington (CAN), Cheryl Reeve (USA Assistant Coach)
Meet The 42 Gay Women and Non-Binary Soccer Players of the Tokyo Summer Olympics
Everyone knows gays cannot get enough soccer/football, and with the 2020 Tokyo Games kicking off its soccer/football matches today, we thought it’d be a perfect time to round up the Olympics women’s soccer gay players and non-binary players. As Outsports has documented brilliantly, there are at least 162 openly gay athletes in Tokyo this year, an Olympic recored! And, according to our research, 42 of those athletes are women and non-binary soccer players, which we have helpfully listed for you below with adorable/swoony photos!
Just a quick editorial note: While most of Autostraddle’s writers are based in the U.S., we realize we have loads of readers around the world. So for this year’s Olympics, we are trying hard to hit the international gay highlights. Obviously U.S. media skews heavily (almost 100%) U.S.-centric, so if we’ve missed anyone that should be on this list, or anything comes up you think we should cover, hit me (@theheatherhogan) or Natalie (@natthedem) up on Twitter, or drop a note in the A+ Priority Contact box (in the right sidebar on the Autostraddle home page) and we’ll try our best to make sure we mention it. The players below are listed alphabetically by last name.
Feature image Elsa/Getty Images / Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Andressa Alves (Brazil)
Bárbara Barbosa (Brazil)
Yenny Acuña Berrios (Chile)
Keisha Buchanan (Canada)
Marta da Silva (Brazil)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJn_hv4l29K/
Rachel Daly (Great Britain)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqnHTOBMUZ/
Tierna Davidson (USA)
Anouk Dekker (Netherlands)
Christiane Endler (Chile)
Abby Erceg (New Zealand)
Magda Eriksson (Sweden)
Sisca Folkertsma (Netherlands)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQhAqbag49-/
Adrianna Franch (USA)
Emily Gielnik (Australia)
Lina Hurtig (Sweden)
Letícia Izidoro (Brazil)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQr0vNUrcbI/
Sam Kerr (Australia)
Fran Kirby (Great Britain)
Stephanie Labbé (Canada)
Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden)
Chloe Logarzo (Australia)
Erin McLeod (Canada)
Teagan Micah (Australia)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_d1esUB_KA/
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands)
Kelley O’Hara (USA)
Fernanda Pinilla (Chile)
Megan Rapinoe (USA)
Aline Reis (Brazil)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBXrJWpdmd/
Jill Scott (Great Britain)
Caroline Seger (Sweden)
Kailen Sheridan (Canada)
Sherida Spitse (Netherlands)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CO4n_8TJ7Nu/
Demi Stokes (Great Britain)
Carly Telford (Great Britain)
Daniëlle van de Donk (Netherlands)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ8uZv8skLC/
Shanice Van De Sanden (Netherlands)
Stefanie Van Der Gragt (Netherlands)
Merel Van Dongen (Netherlands)
Hannah Wilkinson (New Zealand)
Tameka Yallop (Australia)
Formiga (Brazil)
Quinn (Canada)
If we missed any Olympics Women’s Soccer gay or non-binary players, let us know!
The Olympics Will Be Completely Gay By 2080, According to Science
Feature image photo by Elsa/Getty Images
Like many of us, I’ve been hyped about the Olympics since I was a kid. Despite the worrying circumstances in which the 2020 event will take place and continuing despair at how global athletics governing bodies are failing to tackle both racial and gender injustices, I’m still steamrollered by the thrill of the games, and the spectacle of thousands of athletes from across the world competing in the biggest of mainstream and tiniest of niche sports.
In recent years, the pre-games excitement has been boosted by rolling coverage of queer athletes as they make it onto their national squads. Nothing makes me happier than revisiting Outsports every day to find a bunch more people have been added (157 and counting)! With over double the out athletes going to Tokyo than the previous gay pinnacle of Rio, the numbers point to both progress on gay acceptance in certain countries and enhanced methods of determining people’s sexuality (i.e. Instagram stalking).
Maybe there’s an element of it being easier to be out now, but there’s no doubting that the Olympics is getting gayer. The question is: how much gayer?
After spending the last 18 months looking at charts about the pandemic every day, I felt empowered as a de facto stats expert to look into this situation. Taking a combo of data from Wikipedia and Gaygames we can see the clear skyrocketing trend of Gaylimpians in recent years.
While the number of all athletes has more than doubled since 1980 (from around 5000 in Moscow to over 11000 in Tokyo), the amount gay athletes has grown exponentially, so we’re now seeing an increased proportian of queers on the roster.
Excited over this trend, our searingly insightful master of comments, QueerGirl, asked me: could we plot at what point we will hit 100% LGBTQ+ Olympians? Confident in my ability to properly statistic, I thought: yes we can!
Looking at our LGBTQ+ athletes as a percentage of total competitors, the exponential gay growth suggests a trend line that will take us to 100% queer athletes just after 2076, well in time for the 2080 Olympics!
In even better news, because athletes competing in events designated for women increasingly outnumber those in men’s events (8:1 ratio at Tokyo!), we can expect to see an even earlier date for those athletes (who I’m going to dub “sapphletes”) in 2072! That’s not so long to go, is it?
While we can all agree that hitting this Olympic gay singularity will be a joyful time for all of us, there could be some pitfalls, with my wife pointing out it’s likely that straight people will want to have some kind of “Straight Games” in protest. I imagine this would lead to devastating wildfires among other consequences.
If you are at all skeptical about this analysis, I think it’s worth heeding both the words and spirit of renowned statistician Megan Rapinoe:
“You can’t win a championship without gays on your team – it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there!”
This is science, right here.
No Filter: I Recognize One God, It Is Sha’Carri Richardson
Hello all! Welcome back to No Filter, the place where I gather all the best Celesbian content of the week for your own viewing pleasure! Let’s go!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRGSdznTLH/
Let’s start strong, shall we? Loving this color mix and that bra and… well, let me not me be uncouth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQR_CqhBSrk/
This has huge Beyoncé in the third Austin Power’s movie energy, which is obviously a good thing and also wow can you even believe that was a thing that happened?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQQI9y2J4ob/
Tessa using this clip of Elizabeth Olsen simply not understanding the assignment as the start of a NYC photo dump… what a mind.
A belated Happy Birthday to Jessica Betts, the iconic hersband herself!
What is the title of this Sherlock Holmes adaptation?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQW5jhbHevN/
:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: Happy Father’s day indeed!
Just two pals supporting each other, hmmm????
I too, would like to live my best gay life with Chef Melissa!!!
Love a behind the scenes look! Also love the idea of these two hanging out with a HORSE!!
It must be said: of all the tourist photo destinations in various cities, the Bean photographs perhaps the best?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQb18bsBXhd/
The way I am about to attempt re-create this lil eyeshadow moment?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQSVEgCtIV7/
I recognize one god, it is Sha’Carri Richardson.
The Olympics Are Coming
The Olympics are coming. When will they be here again? I do not know. But when I think ‘the Olympics are coming one day’ I feel my palms sweat in anticipation. I do not care about sports when they are just one sport but when they are all the sports it is the Olympics and I breathe hard when I think about all the sports I will care about.
I will care about diving, which is falling. I will know things about what makes a fall a good fall or a bad fall. Right now, I do not know this. All falls look the same to me. Soon, the mighty register of my baritone will ring out over my empty living room as I deliver my verdict on the fall. GOOD FALL, I shall boom as I attempt to sandwich one sandwich inside another sandwich. BAD FALL, I shall mutter as my neighbors call to complain that my apartment smells like pizza grease and cat fur.
My neighbor is Tristan and he says, “The Olympics are when Bob Costas had pink eye.” Tristan knows as many facts about the Olympics as there are Olympic rings (five).
I will know things about soccer, which is called football, and that is one of the things I will know about it. I will know when some kicks are good and some kicks are bad. The football games will be on late in the night and early in the morning and yet I will still watch them. I will never again feel this amount of passion for anything else in my life. Do not contact the emergency services when you hear my howls, Tristan, for it will be soccer time and they will be my soccer howls.
Women’s beach volleyball? Yes, I will know it. There are two of them on the team and I will imagine what their working relationship is like. Are they friends outside of volleyball? Are they friends inside of volleyball? I do not know how to perform surgery or keep my cat from eating thumbtacks, but I will know the intricate secret mysteries of volleyball.
Where are my children? What time is it? How big is an official regulation rugby pitch? I will know the answer to one of these questions.
Michael Phelps? Ryan Lochte? Who will be the new swim man I will know? Trick question: I will know all the swim men, and the swim women besides. All the pool wizards who flash through the chlorinated water will be known to me and to those with whom I speak. Yes, Tristan, these are the 200 meter swimmers. Give me my Domino’s, Tristan. I watch swim alone!
Is ping pong a sport in the Olympics? I will know this. I do not know it now.
As I drink my seltzer I say, what is curling? Right now it is as cryptic to me as one of the many riddles in the Egyptian pyramids. And yet soon I will know as much about it as the guy who solved that riddle and did the stuff. I can’t remember who he was or what he did because I have been preparing for the Olympics by purging my brain of facts that are not about the Olympics. Sh, Tristan. It is almost the Olympics.
Is there an election coming up? Yes. It is me electing to watch the Olympics.
Prepare yourself. In case this is not known to you: the Olympics are coming.
Broom Broom Pow Is Queer Culture (Or How I Fell In Love With Curling)
Remember when retired tennis player Margaret Court was like tennis is full of lesbians? I, for one, remember hearing that quote and thinking about all the secret lesbian drama that infiltrated my tennis team in high school. That drama — plot twist! — barely even involved me because I was so deeply closeted at the time. Still, I can verify that tennis is most certainly a gay sport. But you know what sport doesn’t get nearly enough recognition as a gay sport? CURLING.
Despite many attempts to play sports in my youth, I usually ended up quitting once I realized I would never be even close to as good as my sister at them. This included swimming, basketball, and one disastrous season of field hockey. But thanks to her devotion to every other sport in the world, my sister never really honed her tennis skills (we both started playing very young, and our parents actually met because of tennis). So I stayed superior, and I was perfectly content being a one-sport gal, playing varsity tennis all through high school and existing just on the periphery of all the lesbian tennis drama swirling around me.
Then, the 2010 Winter Olympics happened, and I fell in love with a new sport: curling.
Prior to then, I had never heard of curling. I lived in Virginia, where winter sports were scarce. Most of my friends preferred the summer Olympics, but I grew up living down the street from my Norwegian grandmother who has a tendency to get very Norwegian during the winter games, so I loved to watch the skiing, speed skating, figure skating, and other events that we only got to enjoy on TV seemingly once every four years. I even developed an obsession with Tara Lipinski when I was very young and owned the Tara Lipinski Barbie, which I would make dance with other Barbies rather than Ken. I’m still waiting for the day same-sex couples can figure skate together!!!!!
But the 2010 Winter Olympics stood out from all the rest, because it brought me to curling. Curling started as merely an exhibition sport at the Olympics in 1924 and didn’t achieve official medal status until 2006. But it didn’t catch my attention when it debuted as an official Olympic sport in 2006… mainly because my parents hadn’t yet bought a TiVo, the magical piece of technology that made it possible for my sister and I to catch way more Olympic events than ever before.
Someone accidentally taped a curling match, and the rest was history. I was beguiled by this strange sport of stones and brooms that somehow seemed ancient and futuristic — like something played aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise — all at once. No one around me seemed to understand curling, and that made me love it more. I suddenly became committed to learning the rules, to understanding the game that so many disparaged as “not a real sport.” Curling, like myself, was soOoOo misunderstood.
Plus, that was the year the Norwegian men’s curling team sported these incredible argyle pants:
fashion icons
A sport that utilized fashion much more appealing to me than the frilly costumes of figure skating? Yes, please!
In high school, I tried on new interests and obsessions in wild succession, hoping the things I liked would help me define who I was. Curling was the latest obsession, and I loved that it was mine, all mine! No one else at my small performing arts high school in southern Virginia was talking about curling! But now they were, because I was pretty much forcing them to. I ordered a t-shirt online that said “rock on!” with a picture of a curling stone. I started telling people I had dreams of being a professional curler one day. There were, of course, few opportunities to act on that dream in Virginia. The closest ice rink that offered curling lessons was two hours to the north, just outside of D.C. I vowed to visit.
Instead, something better happened. Shortly after the Olympics ended, my uncle in Vermont heard about an amateur curling competition happening for charity in his town. By this point, everyone in my family was clued into my peculiar obsession with the sport. Not long after, I was flying to Vermont for my first curling competition without ever having touched a curling stone in my entire life.
Our team was named Broom Broom Pow, suggested by me because, yes, it was 2010 and “Boom Boom Pow” by The Black Eyed Peas was still on the radio. I made hideous iron-on team shirts for me, my uncle, his friend who he had roped into this adventure, and one of my close childhood friends, a University of Vermont student at the time who I called up and said “hey, you’re joining my curling team.”
me, pretending to be a curling prodigy and also pretending to be heterosexual
Experience supposedly wasn’t required for the event, and we signed up for the optional practice session the night before our first game so we could see what exactly we had gotten ourselves into. I already knew all the rules, so I gave my teammates the pointers I’d picked up from watching. Only, I wasn’t just passively watching anymore. This was real. I was curling!
Everyone who has ever said that curling isn’t a real sport should be required to try curling. Those stones weigh over 40 pounds and are tricky to maneuver across the delicate ice. Lunging across the ice requires significant balance and core strength. THE SWEEPING IS INTENSE, Y’ALL. Our coach went over the ABCs of curling: alignment, balance, and curl. My friend’s years of playing strategy games came in handy, so we made him our skip, essentially the team captain who calls all the shots in curling.
thinking about how I missed my chance to become an Olympic athlete
Somehow, we won our first three games. That placed us in the finals, where we faced off against the Chocolate Sliders… a team of chocolatiers from a local chocolate factory!!!! Who had a lot of experience with curling!!!!!! The stakes were suddenly incredibly high. We were the dark horse, a team of curling newbies who were secretly really fucking good at curling? As an extremely competitive person, I was very pleased.
We didn’t end up beating the Chocolate Sliders, but how could we have? They were curling chocolatiers! They were destined to win! And we were destined to take home our silver medals, which were presented to us in a formal curling awards ceremony — bagpipes and all. My requests for “Boom Boom Pow” to be played on said bagpipes were denied.
Then Broom Broom Pow went our separate ways. I went off to college. My weekend of curling became little more than a fun anecdote, my silver medal gathering dust somewhere in my parents’ home next to a massive pile of all the medals my sister won for various sports through the years. The 2014 Winter Olympics came and went. I watched the curling and told my friends I’d done that once, talking about it with a distant reverence as if I had truly missed my shot at going pro and it wasn’t merely a weekend of accidental glory.
Broom Broom Pow remained dormant for eight long years. Until now. Halfway through the 2018 Winter Olympics, my uncle called me up. “Should we get the team back together again?” It was time for a curling reunion.
Many things were different this time around. We all had iPhones now. The Black Eyed Peas hadn’t been on the radio in a very long time. The U.S. Olympic curling team was suddenly really good. I had a girlfriend, and my family actually knew about it. In fact, she stepped in and joined the team since my childhood friend was no longer in Vermont. Suddenly, Broom Broom Pow got a whole lot gayer.
just two girlfriends sweeping together!
Something else was different this time around: In 2010, we came to curl. In 2018, we came to win. We were so certain that we could recreate our former glory and maybe even redeem ourselves by winning gold. Naturally, we bombed. We couldn’t get a good read on the ice (that’s a thing!), and we kept delivering stones with either too much or too little power. Nothing was working. In the course of three games, we scored exactly one point, and you don’t have to know too much about curling to know that’s bad. In fact, out of over 30 teams, we came in last place.
About halfway through our final game of the tournament, when it was already more than clear that we would not be advancing, time froze for a moment as Will.I.Am’s heavily affected voice crept onto the speakers. My mother, one of the many family members who had turned out to root for us, had requested “Boom Boom Pow.” Our spirits were suddenly lifted, which is not the vibe that terrible song should ever inspire, and YET!
8 years later, my concentration face has not changed
Minutes before, I had accidentally snapped at my girlfriend when she told me to relax and have fun. Sure, this was all fun and games, but I still wanted to win! But for all the yelling at stones that goes on, curling is, at its core, a convivial game. You’re supposed to say “good curling” to each opponent at the top of a game, and even though the tension can build on the ice during the game, in the end, you say “good curling,” too. A game where you have to be nice to your sworn ice enemies? Honey, that’s queer culture. So is participating in something elaborate that most people don’t understand. Curling is an incredibly kind sport. No matter what, it’s always “good curling.” But it’s also one where people passionately shout commands at rocks.
A week after the competition, we all received an email congratulating Broom Broom Pow. At first, I thought it was a cruel error. But nope, we were being congratulated because even though we lost every game we played, we had won best team spirit thanks to our very boisterous, sign-wielding fans in the stands. Hey, best team spirit is the gayest accolade there is in sports, so I’ll take it!
Broom Broom Pow 2.0, the team with the least points but the most spirit
For now, I am once again retired from the sport of curling. But I’m not ruling out the possibility of a second reunion in the distant future. I can only resist the pull of the stone for so long! Now, please spread the word: Curling is queer.
Gay Love Takes The Gold Medal At The Olympics In Our Hearts This Sunday Funday
Hello, mobile hot spots! I’ve hired this cat as my life coach:
May my cat life coach also inspire you to occupy space in the world and be your best truest self this weekend!
This Just In: Love Not a Lie!
True Stories About First Love and Self-Discovery: Watch Diane Obomsawin’s ‘I Like Girls’. Free for Valentine’s Day and still only $2.99 to download! This is the cutest!
6 Queer Couples Share Their Definition of Black Love. ADORBS.
Couple Surprise Each Other by Proposing at the Same Time. Well, this is hilarious and sweet and gay. Congrats, Tori and Berkley!
http://twitter.com/33_Syd/status/962550254078902272
2 Vets Celebrate Love: ‘If You Came To See The Bride, You’re Out Of Luck’. LOOK HOW CUTE.
Here, Queer & Trans, Etc.
Meet Black Athletes Paving the Way for LGBTQ Equality.
Telling Tales of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras – in pictures.
Pakistan Has Changed the Law so Transgender People Can Be Their Gender Without Medical Approval.
Slay Queens: 12 Beautiful Music Videos About Women Murdering Men.
The Gay Bar Is Dying. Long Live the Queer Café. HOT TAKE. INTO IT.
We Love Les, Bi, and Queer Olympians In Love
OutSports wrote this post about gay Olympians in love for Valentine’s Day and it sent me down a wonderful Instagram vortex of queer sports babes and their adorable wives and girlfriends and babies. Join me in getting all :heart eyes emoji: about these couples!
http://www.instagram.com/p/BaCidV4gbAg
http://www.instagram.com/p/BQ5eNM4DYVr
http://www.instagram.com/p/Be9oWd1Fv_t
Look, I Know This Is A Site for Lesbians, But….
Adam Rippon is the Valentine We Need Right Now. HE IS.
‘I can’t tone it down’: Olympic skater Adam Rippon speaks out for young LGBT Americans. Please don’t tone it down.
From ‘Generic’ Condoms to In-N-Out Burger: See Adam Rippon’s Best Quotes from the Olympics.
That Time Adam Rippon Sang A Rihanna Song And Then Skated To It.
5 Other Olympic Sports We Could Add Lyrical Music to, Just a Thought
feature image via Shutterstock
I assume many of you have heard by now: this year’s Olympics in PyeongChang will be the first to feature figure skaters performing to music with lyrics. Though the change was actually implemented during the 2014-2015 season, this is the first Olympics we’ve had under the new rules which allow the use of lyrics. And from the looks of things, we’re in for a good show.
Here’s Jimmy Ma skating to “Turn Down For What” at the January 2018 US National Championships (song starts around 2:15):
Ma won’t be at the Olympics, but Evgenia Medvedeva will. Here she is as Sailor Moon, skating for the Tokyo world trophy in 2017:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riHSCgHYUUc
The two-time world champion hasn’t lost an event since November 2015, and is heavily favored as the winner on the women’s side. Medvedeva’s Sailor Moon performance was for an exhibition event (she’s expected to skate to a more traditional medley and some Chopin during the Olympics), but who knows what else will turn up these games! It’s a weird, wild new world.
Here are some suggestions for other sports that would be at least 200% better with lyrical music.
1. Skeleton + Symphonic Metal
First one’s real easy. Skeleton — essentially a face-first ice roller coaster — is the most metal sport in the Olympics.
Here’s athlete Lizzy Yarnold being real cute and approachable seeming, like you could run into her at the grocery store and make friends and she’d be Snapchatting you inside jokes with silly filters a month later:
In contrast, here’s Lizzy beasting her way down the track at 90mph in Sochi, 2014, en route to a gold medal:
The second video sort of got the right idea by including peppy music, but a) the music was added in afterwards, not part of the sport; and b) it’s not really epic, fear-for-your-life enough-y, is it?
Let’s kick this sport up a notch by incorporating actual symphonic metal during the events. I want track designs based around particular songs, and crowd members making the horns. Press play on “The Obsessive Devotion” and replay the zippy video above. Way more heart pounding thrill.
2. Freestyle Aerials + Yodeling
Would you not enjoy this more if participants were also belting out their best yodel?
https://youtu.be/FVHUh7qhCSM
Yes, these athletes are already performing absurd feats of athleticism. Counterpoint: Xena.
3. Curling + Opera
Bowhunting Jesus, do I love curling.
Catherine Lindahl, Anette Norberg and Anna Svaerd of Sweden. 2006 Winter Olympics.
What a strangely compelling and beautiful sport. Not to mention all the gal pallery on display — real or imagined.
Eve Muirhead and Anna Sloan of Great Britain. 2014 Winter Olympics.
How better to lean into that aesthetic than to pipe in lyric opera over top?
I want curlers casting stones to Queen of the Night. Arias by Donizetti. Puccini. Extra points granted for sweeping in time to the music. Why not, you know?
4. Biathlon + Dolly Parton
Okay, this:
But with skiing and shooting. Think about it.
5. Women’s Hockey
Yeah, actually — no. Don’t touch women’s hockey. This sport is already perfect.
DARKER, GAYER, DIFFERENT: Olympics Opening Ceremony Live Blog and Coverage
HELLO WORLD! Welcome to Autostraddle’s coverage of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremonies! Get ready for drama, get ready for performative unity, get ready for fashion. Your hosts tonight are me, Alaina L. Monts, and my good friend Mey Rude. From what little news I take in (anxiety, amirite???) I know that this year the games are said to be darker, gayer, and different. I for one am thrilled by this prospect. I also know that the gayest sport, figure skating is getting even gayer with the addition of songs with lyrics! I also know that Mike Pence feels called out and sad because gay athletes want nothing to do with him! Y’all! 2018 is such a blessing!!!! I can’t wait to see what we get tonight, and I can’t wait to talk about it with you! (If you, unlike me actually care about who to root for, Molly wrote a sweet guide to help you out).
Mey: Hi! I love the Olympics! My family loves the Olympics! My grandpa was a boxing announcer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, my uncle is in charge of the big replay boards for this year’s Olympics as well as a bunch of past ones. My family comes together and watches the Olympics and roots for the US and Mexico. I have a lot of great memories around the Olympics. I remember when the Olympic committee decided to alternate Olympic years so we got one every two years instead of every four and it was one of the best days of my life. I love the pageantry, I love the Americana, I love the bliss and pure unironic joy, but mostly I love the pageantry. And that pageantry is at it’s highest is tonight at the Opening Ceremonies. I’d like to dedicate this liveblog to all my fellow Olympic fans, as well as my girlfriends who hate the Olympics right now but will learn to love them very soon.
Alaina:
ok I’m LIVE
Sweet Mey Rude:
OLYMPICS
Alaina:
also i can’t believe wheel of fortune is really just on tv until 7 pm
Sweet Mey Rude:
my tv is showing this like, pre-olympics preview
also it’s 4:55
Alaina:
debatable
tell me about this pre coverage!
Sweet Mey Rude:
It’s 28 degrees in Pyeongchang
also Mike Tirico was talking which reminded me that he says he’s not Black
Alaina:
i love learning
already obsessed with the trumpets
Sweet Mey Rude:
already obsessed with the olympic ring sunglasses
Alaina Monts:
OH NO THESE COMMERCIALS MAKE ME CRY!!!
Sweet Mey Rude:
Idaho and Connecticut shout outs!
Alaina Monts:
YESSSS
Sweet Mey Rude:
Nigerian bobsled team seems amazing
Alaina Monts:
nigerian bobsled team made of LADIES is what i wish cool runnings had been about
Sweet Mey Rude:
also: confirmed [Sterling K Brown is voicing the opening film]
That puppy!!
Alaina Monts:
WELCOME TO WHAT DREAMS LOOK LIKE
OKAYYYYY
Sweet Mey Rude:
do you remember when Olympic gold medalist Shaun White was in Rocket Power?
Alaina Monts:
i’m sorry WHAT
NO
also mey, this dude has said pageantry 5 times
at least
Sweet Mey Rude:
I probably say pageantry at least fifteen times a day
Boooo Mike Pence
Alaina Monts:
this is a lot of politics
damn
like, what happened to “leave north korea alone for a few weeks”
Sweet Mey Rude:
If they’re gonna talk about politics why don’t they talk about Mike Pence wanting to kill gays
sorry if that’s too dark for the Olympics
Alaina Monts:
Sweet Mey Rude:
AAAHHHHHH A COMMERCIAL WITH A LITTLE BOY WANTING TO BUY A DOLL AND HIS DAD SAYS HE CANT
I”M BAWLING
it’s for samsung
i’m gonna go buy a phone
“we’re born to do what we’re told we can’t”
Alaina Monts:
WOW
I LOVE THAT
Alaina Monts:
shaun white looks different from his rocket power days
Sweet Mey Rude:
back then his nicknames were “The Flying Tomato” and “The Egg” which, surprisingly doesn’t mean he’s trans
Alexei Monts loving the Olympics
Alaina Monts:
katie couric admitting her kids hate her is a BIG MOOD
Sweet Mey Rude:
JAJAJAJA
I love the mom stuff though
I love my mom. Hi Stacy
“I just want to netflix and chill”
does that not mean fucking anymore???
Alaina Monts:
I THINK SO
HAHAHAHAH I JUST WANNA FUCK
i mean, there is a lot of sex in the olympic village
Sweet Mey Rude:
true
i wish she was just like “ugh my mom is cock blocking me”
Alaina Monts:
WHERE ARE THEY? that place where they hold the athletes looks like something from black mirror
Sweet Mey Rude:
jajajaja
I absolutely love those gloves
Alaina Monts:
THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN EVER TO BE ON THE SHORT TRACK TEAM!
I LOVE HER
Sweet Mey Rude:
and I love Maame Biney
Alaina Monts:
those gloves are great too
Sweet Mey Rude:
She’s so fun!
Alaina Monts:
that laugh!
Sweet Mey Rude:
she can’t stop smiling!!!
I love how much she says “like” she’s such a teenager!!!
that was my favorite interview ever
Alaina Monts:
yes!
also i’m obsessed with how dramatic this is because it happened at 3 am last night
like, they’re making it seem like they gotta wait!
but they don’t have to wait!
Sweet Mey Rude:
i know!!!
that’s part of the pageantry
I love these lights
is this just projections or was there like, smoke?
Alaina Monts:
holy smokes
i have a feeling they go all out for this
so maybe smoke??
OOOH welcome in fireworks!
Sweet Mey Rude:
did the fireworks spell “Welcome”
yessss
I love these children
Alaina Monts:
also YES i love children guides
this is making me so happy
“the nature vs man dynamic”
Alaina Monts [7:31 PM]
THIS IS MAGICAL
it’s like harry potter
and also fantasia???
Sweet Mey Rude [7:31 PM]
Yeah!
I was thinking of the moana scenes where she first finds the boats
Alaina Monts [7:32 PM]
THIS MUSIC IS GIVING ME MOANA VIBES
Sweet Mey Rude [7:32 PM]
THIS PUPPET
Alaina Monts [7:32 PM]
OMGGGG
I LOVE PUPPETS
Sweet Mey Rude [7:33 PM]
Blue eyes white tiger
Alaina Monts [7:33 PM]
OMG SHADOWS
holy
shit
IT’S A MOUNTAIN
Sweet Mey Rude [7:33 PM]
i don’t understand the science behind this but i love it
I LOVE THE RUNNING IN PLACE
Alaina Monts [7:34 PM]
i think it’s just lighting design…like projections are a new theatre discipline
woah, these animals are great, i like this two headed turtle
Alaina Monts [7:35 PM]
this is so great. are there penguins????
oooh they’re dancers
TWO AND A HALF YEARS
in the making
Sweet Mey Rude [7:36 PM]
can you imagine practicing for this for two and a half years??
Alaina Monts [7:36 PM]
if this is all sports were, i’d watch more
Sweet Mey Rude [7:36 PM]
that means the summer olympics are already working on theirs
Alaina Monts [7:36 PM]
where are those?
Sweet Mey Rude [7:36 PM]
tokyo!
Alaina Monts [7:37 PM]
i’m obsessed with these babies
omg
Sweet Mey Rude [7:37 PM]
what are these floaters
Alaina Monts [7:37 PM]
those LIGHTS
Sweet Mey Rude [7:37 PM]
how
Alaina Monts [7:37 PM]
THE STARS
Sweet Mey Rude [7:37 PM]
WHAT
Alaina Monts [7:37 PM]
AUGMENTED REALITY
Sweet Mey Rude [7:38 PM]
AUGMENTED REALITY
Alaina Monts [7:38 PM]
WHAAAAATTTT
Sweet Mey Rude [7:38 PM]
OH MY GAWD
Alaina Monts [7:39 PM]
WHAT IS THIS
it’s like star wars and gaga
THESE FUCKING LIGHTS
Sweet Mey Rude [7:40 PM]
I love this
they look like a flock of birds
Alaina Monts [7:40 PM]
they’re all moving so seamlessly
like EVERY MOVE is identical
omg when they look up and all are smiling
THE CHOREOGRAPHY
Sweet Mey Rude [7:42 PM]
it’s hard to take my eyes away to liveblog
Alaina Monts [7:42 PM]
i know!
i’m obsessed with this circle motif
Sweet Mey Rude [7:42 PM]
also the beautiful maroon against all the white!
it’s so great!
Alaina Monts [7:42 PM]
WOAHHHHH
they made the korean flag!
Alaina Monts [7:45 PM]
finally the parade
national anthem first
cute
Sweet Mey Rude [7:46 PM]
i really love all the emphasis they’re giving to kids. imagine having these memories!!
Alaina Monts [7:47 PM]
i always love that part of the olympics!
Sweet Mey Rude [7:47 PM]
wait is the torch lighting before or after the parade
Alaina Monts [7:47 PM]
no clue
every year i watch feels brand new bc i don’t remember
AND NOW the parade!
omg
greece marches in first
bc of like…ancient greece???
Sweet Mey Rude [7:48 PM]
yeah
Alaina Monts [7:48 PM]
WOW
Sweet Mey Rude [7:49 PM]
wait, did they say the korean name for the US translates to “beautiful nation”?
Alaina Monts [7:49 PM]
also, i’m mad that they’re first but not in a cute outfit
wait i love this ice queen
i didn’t hear about the name?? i hope so though
Sweet Mey Rude [7:49 PM]
“THE ONLY THING COLD IN GHANA IS A COLD BEER”
Alaina Monts [7:49 PM]
YESS NIGERIA THESE COATS
AND THESE HEAD WRAPS
Sweet Mey Rude [7:50 PM]
the head wraps with the detailing is such a perfect winter touch
Alaina Monts [7:50 PM]
also i’m obsessed that the nigerians are american born and were like “bye”
Sweet Mey Rude [7:50 PM]
jajaja
my dad loves the norwegian team
bc he’s norwegian
Alaina Monts [7:51 PM]
huh!
the red and blue is almost too much contrast???
like they look like floating bodies
Sweet Mey Rude [7:52 PM]
ALL BLACKS
YES
Alaina Monts [7:52 PM]
YESSS
and that FUR
Sweet Mey Rude [7:52 PM]
this new zealand team looks so good
Alaina Monts [7:52 PM]
CAPE
Sweet Mey Rude [7:53 PM]
i want them to show the new zealanders again
Alaina Monts [7:57 PM]
did katie couric just say think of skeletons
Sweet Mey Rude [7:57 PM]
jajajajja
yes
Alaina Monts [8:00 PM]
LOOK AT THIS 16 YEAR OLD GIRL
Sweet Mey Rude [8:01 PM]
16 year old first woman from madagascar!!!
MEXICO
THAT SOMBRERO
Alaina Monts [8:02 PM]
YESSS AND FLOWER CROWN!!!
WHAT IS THIS WIERD COUNTRY COMMERCIAL!
Adam Levine WHAT IS GOING ON
AND ALICIA KEYS
KELLY CLARKSON WITH A MILE LONG TRAIN
AND THIS CHOIR
AND THE CHOREO
i’m slain
Sweet Mey Rude [8:03 PM]
I’m saying it: Carson Daly is a coward for not singing his line
Alaina Monts:
wow people in team usa being born in 2000
Sweet Mey Rude [8:06 PM]
i like the skier in the Captain Marvel costume
yeah! like, settle down children (edited)
Alaina Monts [8:06 PM]
also i love these sweaters
there are so many of them
we’re imperialists even at the olympics
just taking over
Sweet Mey Rude [8:09 PM]
Here’s some brand synergy for you. I’m sitting here w my Ralph Lauren blanket to match the team USA outfits
Alaina Monts [8:09 PM]
yesss
ok, the korean name for us DOES translate to beautiful country
that’s a lie
Alaina Monts [8:12 PM]
the us is so extra
OMG
THIS WOMAN NOT CLAPPING
Sweet Mey Rude [8:12 PM]
get mike pence off the damn screen
Alaina Monts [8:12 PM]
NEXT TO MIKE PENCE
WHO IS SHE I LOVE HER
Sweet Mey Rude [8:12 PM]
his wife?
Alaina Monts [8:12 PM]
she looks completely fucking DONE
no, the korean woman; i’m pretty sure it’s kim jong il’s sister????
Sweet Mey Rude [8:12 PM]
yeah!
Alaina Monts [8:12 PM]
oooh, the fringe on the gloves!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:13 PM]
the fringe and the sweaters are what make it
are we missing the countries behind us?
Alaina Monts [8:14 PM]
the US team is STILL coming on.
i think we are
good lord
they all have selfie sticks
Sweet Mey Rude [8:14 PM]
i want to see bermuda
i just bought a selfie stick
Alaina Monts [8:14 PM]
ughhhh i wanna see bermuda too
i don’t want to watch people take selfies!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:15 PM]
“selfie central”
Alaina Monts [8:16 PM]
do they just not show anyone after the us???
jesus
that was like 4 minutes!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:16 PM]
they better go back to them
this is pre-taped so we better not miss anyone
honestly any commercial that shows supportive parents of future olympians makes me tear up
Alaina Monts [8:19 PM]
ok they are
good
OMG
Sweet Mey Rude [8:19 PM]
ok good!
yes the shorts!!!
Alaina Monts [8:19 PM]
bermuda shorts!!!
and the KNEE HIGHS!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:19 PM]
THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR
Alaina Monts:
can you imagine being one of the people dancing? they’ve been doing the same moves for 20 minutes
Sweet Mey Rude [8:21 PM]
i love these ppl dancing
jajaja
bulgaria with a bold choice
Alaina Monts [8:21 PM]
lime green ok
Sweet Mey Rude [8:23 PM]
also i like sweden’s outfits
LOOK AT THIS AUNTIE IN THE GOOGLE COMMERCIAL
Alaina Monts [8:24 PM]
I LOVE HER
Alaina Monts [8:30 PM]
wait, we just reached A countries in korean…i’m very interested in this alphabet
Sweet Mey Rude [8:30 PM]
ohhhhhh the stands are empty bc the olympians fill them up
is that what’s happening?
maybe i made that up
a third lime green country?????
what is happening???
Alaina Monts [8:31 PM]
wow popular color this year
wait, are the stands empty
i thought they just had lights over people’s heads???
but maybe
Sweet Mey Rude [8:32 PM]
“ANDORRA GETS AN A FOR PARTICIPATION”
katie couric is being savage
jajajaja i just noticed the dancers again
Alaina Monts [8:40 PM]
oh! I remember hearing about this russia scandal on NPR on tuesday
they don’t get to march under russia’s flag!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:40 PM]
nope
Alaina Monts [8:40 PM]
russia is struggling right now
Sweet Mey Rude [8:40 PM]
what does the olympic anthem sound like?
oh wait is it that trumpet thing they always play
Alaina Monts [8:41 PM]
idk!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:41 PM]
awwww this person from Iran is crying!!!
I love her!
Alaina Monts [8:41 PM]
i love iran’s coats!
THE ITALIAN’S ARE FAR FROM ONE OF THE BEST DRESSED TEAMS
katie couric PLEASE
Sweet Mey Rude [8:42 PM]
i mean, yeah
armani is great, but come one
Alaina Monts [8:42 PM]
these are just puffy coats!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:42 PM]
you can’t coast by on name alone
Alaina Monts [8:42 PM]
and like beanies!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:42 PM]
i feel like she said that before she saw the clothes
“oh, armani! they must be best dressed!”
Alaina Monts [8:43 PM]
YES INDIA
THESE HATS!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:43 PM]
i just spat my water bc i was gonna say don’t pubsih that
Alaina Monts [8:43 PM]
and they’re all hot!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:43 PM]
but yeah, I love the indian teams hats!
that’s a powerful red on these japanese jackets
Alaina Monts [8:44 PM]
OK JAMAICA!!!!!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:44 PM]
JAMAICA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY WHO SHOULD WEAR THE LIME
COMING OUT LIKE THAT YES
Alaina Monts [8:44 PM]
I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE
Sweet Mey Rude [8:44 PM]
MISTER COOL BOLT
china has the best white jackets
more fur looking good
Alaina Monts [8:47 PM]
KAZHAKSTAN looking like royalty!!!!
oh also the athletes DO fill the seats!
GO KENYA!!!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:51 PM]
fifth lime green
COLOMBIA COMING THROUGH
Alaina Monts [8:52 PM]
oooh these ponchos and hats!
Sweet Mey Rude [8:52 PM]
Colombia looks so freaking good
Alaina Monts [8:52 PM]
like a wool poncho???
i’m shook
Sweet Mey Rude [8:53 PM]
who’s best dressed so far, india, new zealand and colombia?
Alaina Monts [8:53 PM]
ghana
Sweet Mey Rude [8:53 PM]
ghana yes
Alaina Monts [8:53 PM]
and then i think colombia next
Sweet Mey Rude [8:54 PM]
then new zealand third. i’m stanning for their all black outfits
togo w the lime green but looking AMAZING
TONGA
TONGA WINS
Alaina Monts [8:55 PM]
HOLY SHIT
I AM SO BISEXUAL
Sweet Mey Rude [8:55 PM]
TONGA
Alaina Monts [8:55 PM]
HE IS SO OILED
Sweet Mey Rude [8:55 PM]
PLEASE
Alaina Monts [8:55 PM]
HIS HIPS
OMG
Sweet Mey Rude [8:55 PM]
MY BREATH IS CAUGHT
YES BACK TO TONGA
Sweet Mey Rude [8:56 PM]
i’m glad its a commercial bc i’m still recovering
Alaina Monts [8:59 PM]
the new iphone stage lighting is perfect
Sweet Mey Rude [8:59 PM]
honestly i’m still thinking abt tonga
Alaina Monts [8:59 PM]
also hell yeah PR competing on their own!
fuck us imperialism!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:00 PM]
amen
Alaina Monts [9:02 PM]
MORE lime green!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:02 PM]
that’s seven!
Alaina Monts [9:02 PM]
maybe pantone needs to change the color of the year
Sweet Mey Rude [9:04 PM]
I think what I love most about the olympics is this spirit of coming together and hope and love between nations
this is truly the best of international politics
i have no shame in being a nerd for countries getting along
Sweet Mey Rude [9:06 PM]
DABBING
my two favorite things are unity and dabbing
More Olympic loving cats
Alaina Monts:
i’m not gonna lie i can’t believe this isn’t over yet
Sweet Mey Rude [9:08 PM]
jajajajaja
Alaina Monts [9:08 PM]
oh, i remember hearing about this song! it’s like a korean folk song that they all know
BECAUSE UNITY
Sweet Mey Rude [9:09 PM]
UNCLE SINGING THE SONG
HES ICONIC
Alaina Monts [9:09 PM]
omg this is the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen
Sweet Mey Rude [9:09 PM]
alaina. i am gay for this
omg i thought he was saying the singer is 600 yrs old
Alaina Monts [9:10 PM]
SAME
Sweet Mey Rude [9:10 PM]
wow this is beautiful though
Alaina Monts [9:11 PM]
this song is about “what might blossom”
FUCK ME UP
and all this augmented reality!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:11 PM]
i was just gonna ask
i’m crying
i love this
Alaina Monts [9:14 PM]
technology is SO COOL. all this VR/AR i’m Obsessed
DID THAT BOY JUST BECOME A GROWN MAN DOCTOR
IS THAT A CYBORG
Sweet Mey Rude [9:14 PM]
WOAH ROBOT
Alaina Monts [9:15 PM]
i hope this is what the future looks like
HOLY SHIT
was that IN the stadium?
or a movie????
Sweet Mey Rude [9:16 PM]
i don’t know!
Alaina Monts [9:16 PM]
it’s all so seamless, i’m confused!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:16 PM]
anything is possible!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:16 PM]
anything is possible!
Alaina Monts [9:16 PM]
yin yang is all katie couric knows about duality
she’s said this many many times
Sweet Mey Rude [9:16 PM]
jajajaja
Alaina Monts [9:16 PM]
wait, i love the cinderella law
Sweet Mey Rude [9:17 PM]
i didn’t know tech rehab centers existed
Alaina Monts [9:17 PM]
it makes sense! i’d go to one
Sweet Mey Rude [9:18 PM]
how is this working
Alaina Monts [9:18 PM]
whaaaaaaaaaat is happeniag
ARE THEY GETTING ABDUCTED
Sweet Mey Rude [9:18 PM]
can you imagine
Alaina Monts [9:19 PM]
i would love that
no lantern lighting, just an alien abduction
Sweet Mey Rude [9:19 PM]
the torch is a ufo
Alaina Monts [9:24 PM]
oh damn
this doping speech
“don’t do drugs kids”
this is like the speech your RA gives you on the first day of freshman year???
Sweet Mey Rude [9:25 PM]
omg
Alaina Monts [9:25 PM]
do’t do drugs, be nice to your roommates, respect each other
OR ELSE
Sweet Mey Rude [9:25 PM]
but it’s in a language half the people dont speak
Alaina Monts [9:25 PM]
i think they get translated??
like with the UN ear translator thingies?
Sweet Mey Rude [9:28 PM]
cool!
whyyyy do they have to sing a song by john lennon
Alaina Monts [9:29 PM]
and THIS song
white people love it though
is this bono
oh
no
Sweet Mey Rude [9:29 PM]
JAJAJAJA
ALAINA
Alaina Monts [9:30 PM]
i didn’t hear them say who was singing
Sweet Mey Rude [9:30 PM]
but he’s clearly korean
Alaina Monts [9:30 PM]
he sounded like bono before i saw him!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:30 PM]
i love you
Alaina Monts [9:30 PM]
wow i love these birds
oh who’s this lesbian
lee eun-mi?
Sweet Mey Rude [9:31 PM]
i was abt to say
Alaina Monts [9:31 PM]
i love her coat
Sweet Mey Rude [9:32 PM]
as much as i hate this song, i love everyone waving their candles together
AND THE GLITTER EYESHADOW
Alaina Monts [9:33 PM]
AND THE DOVE BEING RELEASED
Sweet Mey Rude [9:33 PM]
that dove they released was
i don’t have words
drones???
i
i thought this was more augmented reality but these are drones, right?
Alaina Monts [9:33 PM]
why is everyone so obsessed with drones now!
OMG
AHHHHH
Sweet Mey Rude [9:33 PM]
DO YOUU SEE THIS
WHAT
Alaina Monts [9:33 PM]
MEY IT’s A PERSON
yrdfktuglihoj;pgfygihjk
Sweet Mey Rude [9:33 PM]
THIS IS FAKE
IM CRYING AGAIN
Alaina Monts [9:34 PM]
THIS IS SO COOL
omg they are SKIING with TORCHES
Sweet Mey Rude [9:35 PM]
how do these drones work
it’s 3d
i’m almost dissassociating
Alaina Monts [9:35 PM]
they’re each like seperate little flying lights i thought!
like the human made out of drones is too much
Sweet Mey Rude [9:35 PM]
they are! it just looks so weird!
she is gorgeous
her outfit is gorgeous
Alaina Monts [9:40 PM]
i’m so glad she’s the queen of the olympics
YES SOPRANO
she better drop her fucking jaw
is this the korean national anthem?
Sweet Mey Rude [9:41 PM]
i don’t know what that means but i support you
i think so
Alaina Monts [9:41 PM]
wait this is 10THOUSAND times better than the star spangled banner
Sweet Mey Rude [9:42 PM]
the american team is like wait, anthems can be like this?
Alaina Monts [9:42 PM]
hahahah
i LOVE sopranos
we bring the drama
YESSSSSS THAT HIGH NOTE ENDING
has anyone ever fallen carrying the torch?
that would be hilarious
Sweet Mey Rude [9:44 PM]
omg
i honestly would cry if someone dropped the torch
i would feel so bad for them
how are they gonna get up the hill
Alaina Monts [9:45 PM]
i hope they run
they’re gonna run
Sweet Mey Rude [9:46 PM]
oh gosh
i’m so nervous for them
it’s so steep!!!
Alaina Monts [9:46 PM]
hahahah this is so silly looking
it’s stairs!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:46 PM]
oh god it’s stairs
ok
Alaina Monts [9:47 PM]
i feel like they had to practice this a LOT
i’d be so fucking tired hahah
aw this is really BEAUTIFULLL
Sweet Mey Rude [9:47 PM]
i mean, they are olympic atheletes
I LOVE HER
LOOK AT HER
Alaina Monts [9:47 PM]
and dramatic ass figure skating
Sweet Mey Rude [9:47 PM]
ELEGANCE
OPULANCE
THAT DRESS THOSE GLOVES
Alaina Monts [9:48 PM]
there’s so much DRAMA!!!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:48 PM]
THE HEAD BAND
IM GAY
i want her to be our first lady
is that sexist that i didn’t say president?
Alaina Monts [9:48 PM]
WOAH
Sweet Mey Rude [9:48 PM]
woah
Alaina Monts [9:49 PM]
WHAT IS THIS FLAMING DILDO
Sweet Mey Rude [9:49 PM]
WOAH
Alaina Monts [9:49 PM]
HOLY SMOKES
Sweet Mey Rude [9:49 PM]
ALANA YOU MADE MY MOM CACKLE
Alaina Monts [9:49 PM]
haha
Sweet Mey Rude [9:49 PM]
EMOJI FIREWORKS
i love the olympics
woah
wait
i love this
these dancers
Alaina Monts [9:50 PM]
IT’S NOT OVER!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:50 PM]
YESSSSSS
THE MAKEUP
just jerk
Alaina Monts [9:51 PM]
damn this is the height of pageantry
Alaina Monts [9:55 PM]
there are SO MANY moving parts happening rn
we got hip hop dancing
we got goblins
we got fire
Sweet Mey Rude [9:55 PM]
so many flaming parts
we got kids!
Sweet Mey Rude [9:57 PM]
so what were the highlights
drones
the kids
Alaina Monts [9:57 PM]
tonga
Sweet Mey Rude [9:57 PM]
tonga
Alaina Monts [9:57 PM]
katie couric’s casual orientalism
Sweet Mey Rude [9:57 PM]
the jamaican team
Alaina Monts [9:57 PM]
maame
Sweet Mey Rude [9:57 PM]
the figure skater lighting the torch
Alaina Monts [9:57 PM]
the teeny steps as they ran up the stairs
UNCLE SINGING
Sweet Mey Rude [9:58 PM]
oh man, UNCLE SINGING
Alaina Monts [9:58 PM]
OMG
Sweet Mey Rude [9:58 PM]
who is this guy?????
Alaina Monts [9:58 PM]
THIS DUDE ON STAGE
HDFHDHHLHJdghlkj;
that’s fucking HILARIOUS
Sweet Mey Rude [9:58 PM]
Uncle singing deserves a gold medal
Alaina Monts [9:58 PM]
OK final questions:
was it darker?
was it gayer?
was it different
i think no, yes, yes
Sweet Mey Rude [9:59 PM]
i think katie tried to make it darker with the politics
it was definitely gayer
it was definitely different
Alaina Monts [10:00 PM]
to quote katie couric “lots of drama on multiple levels”
Sweet Mey Rude [10:00 PM]
also to quote katie couric “think about skeletons”
Alaina Monts [10:00 PM]
thank you mey for a lovely night
i am going to bed because it’s 10 pm
Sweet Mey Rude [10:01 PM]
thank you for sharing the pageantry
goodnight
5 Lesbian and Bisexual Women Athletes to Watch in the 2018 Winter Olympics
Every couple of years, the world sends its most in-shape humans to battle it out in various sports arenas for the enjoyment of everyone as they compete in the Olympics. And while the sports Hunger Games are a fun opportunity to take some pride in their own country’s athletes, the Olympics are invariably a time when athletes will capture your heart regardless of the country they represent. It’s not your fault, and it’s not treason – watching someone’s lifelong dream come true, or watching them nearly achieve it and fall short, is a relatively rare intimacy to experience in everyday life and we’re exposed to it on a huge scale during the Olympics.
And of COURSE you’re going to fall in love with the muscles and the smiles and the down-to-Earth, hardworking personalities of the athletes sweating it out for the gold, it’s practically science.But it’s also important to remember the absolute struggle it was for many athletes to even make it to the Olympics on physical standards alone, and then factor in how many of them grapple with additional factors like battling stigma about gender and sexuality in sports and WOW you’ve got some tough, driven folks to admire.
With that in mind, here are five out lesbian and bisexual women athletes from all over the globe to cheer for in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. If we’ve missed anyone who is publicly out, please let us know so we can add them to the celebrations!
Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst. Image via Twitter.
Country: Netherlands
Sport: Speed skating
Twitter handle: @Ireenw
If you’ve watched the Winter Olympics for the past 12 years, you’ve probably seen Ireen Wüst, a powerhouse speed skater for an already-dominant Netherlands team. Wüst boasts four gold medals, three silvers, and a bronze already in her collection, and she’s going for more gold in South Korea. She won gold in Turin in 2006 at age 19, becoming the youngest-ever Olympic champion in speed skating for the Netherlands. Oh, and she’s also been out as bisexual since 2009; her partner, Letitia de Jong, is also a competitive speed skater.
Barbara Jezeršek
Barbara Jezeršek. Photo via Twitter.
Country: Australia
Sport: Cross Country Skiing
Twitter handle: @JezersekBarbara
Barbara Jezeršek is a tried Olympian, competing for her native Slovenia in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She’s been competing professionally since 2003, and became an Australian citizen who will now compete for Team G’Day Mate in Pyeongchang. Jezeršek was one of several outspoken queer athletes in Russia who protested the anti-LGBT laws passed there.
Belle Brockhoff
Belle Brockhoff. Photo via Twitter.
Country: Australia
Sport: Snowboarding
Twitter: @bellebrockhoff
Speaking of outspoken Australians, snowboarder Belle Brockhoff came out as gay in 2013 in order to protest the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Brockhoff suffered a serious knee injury a few months ago, rupturing a knee ligament, but was still selected for the Australian team as she continues to recover.
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz
Daniela Iraschko-Stolz. Image via Twitter.
Country: Austria
Sport: Ski Jumping
Twitter: @DanieXIraX
When Daniela Iraschko-Stolz won the silver in Sochi in 2014 for ski jumping, she became the second openly gay athlete to medal in Russia. Before heading to the 2014 Olympics, she married her partner Isabel Stolz in 2013, telling the Kurier newspaper at the time, “I don’t want to hide myself…I never cared at all what other people think about me.”
Cheryl Maas
Cheryl Maas. Image via Twitter
Country: Netherlands
Sport: Snowboarding
Twitter: @cherylmaas
You probably remember Cheryl Maas from her Sochi snowboarding salute to LGBT rights, when she held up gloves, covered in rainbows and unicorns, in view of the cameras after a run. It was an act of protest against the Russian anti-LGBT laws, and Maas is back this year for her third Olympics. Maas is married to former snowboarder Stine Brun Kjedlaas, and the couple has two children.
The Century-Old Art of Negging Women in Sports
feature images via The Library of Congress
Journalists and sport commentators covering the 2016 Rio Olympics have gone out of their way to make sure the audience understands that sexism is alive and well. To a degree that feels unnecessary? It’s like, we get it, you have a deep-seated belief that women exist in contrast to the default of men and are bad at your job!
The deliberateness of it isn’t as trying as how casual it all seems. That’s muscle memory at work. Almost as if there’s a manual for this kind of thing! *peeks through a bunch of newspapers from 100 years ago* Oop, found it!
Gertrude Ederle – Swimmer
“Romping ‘Tom-Boy’ wins real place in sun as 15-year old girl is crowned water queen… Plays baseball like a pro, and knows value of a poker hand, and yet she is good at housework, too… Plenty of sleep and healthy exercise to keep her in trim are about all she concerns herself with. And to grasp her by the hand and receive a husky clasp, to run an eye over the broad shoulders and muscular arms and well developed body, it is apparent her rules are good ones.” – Evening Public Ledger, August 12, 1922
I hope someone was close by to run an eye over the man who was running an eye over the broad shoulders and muscular arms and well developed body of Gertrude Ederle!
Gertrude Ederle, Helen Wainwright, and Hilda James – Swimmers
“A trio of the world’s speediest mermaids snapped at the New Brunswick last Saturday during the 440-yard championship over a 110-yard course in the Raritan River.” – The New York Tribune, September 10, 1922
Mermaids are cool because they’re not even human!
May Sutton Bundy – Tennis Player
“By winning the women’s national tennis championship from Miss Bjurstedt in the Thanksgiving Day tournament at the Long Beach, Cal, Mrs. May Sutton Bundy proved to doubters that a married woman can compete and hold her own in athletics… Now Mrs. Bundy comes back into the game and takes over the championship once more, in spite of the fact that she is a mother and busy with the cares of a household.” – The Day Book, December 3, 1915
Married, a mother, and not completely worthless outside the home? Right on, May Sutton Bundy!
Helen Busby – Baseball Player
“Any fellow who likes baseball has a perfectly good chance to become a Ty Cobb; but what chance has a girl? Miss Helen Busby, of the Temple Girls’ baseball team, last season convinced Philadelphians that she really was the Ty Cobb of her sex.” – New York Tribune, March 18, 1917
Helen Busby really was the Katie Ledecky as the Michael Phelps as the Ty Cobb of her time.
May Kaarlus – Billiards Player
“May Kaarlus, fifteen and pretty, has issued rather a sweeping challenge to the winner of the professional billiard match recently played in New York.” – The Leon Reporter, January 2, 1902
“Willie Hoppe, the boy billiardist, has a feminine rival in May Kaarlus, ‘fifteen and pretty,’ who, through the The World, has challenged the winner of the Madison Square Garden tournament to a contest. Women are taking a particular interest in billiards which, though a fatiguing game for the sex, is one in which feminine accuracy of eye and delicacy of touch count for much. Incidentally it sets in relief the graceful lines of a pretty figure.” – The Evening World, December 5, 1901
“Miss May Kaarlus, the little sorceress of the cue, who has startled the whole billiard world by her performances on the green-clothed table… Though only a girl, not yet in the ‘sweet-sixteen’ stage of life, she has a command of the cue that defies comparison.” – The Evening World, January 28, 1901
Does anyone know if May Kaarlus was at one point 15 years old or if she was pretty? I can’t wait to start referring to men who excel in sports my “little sorcerers.” Also who knew the billiards’ table was a great way to show off your rockin’ bod!
Frances Heywood – Billiards Player
“Speaking of what he saw, Cutler said: ‘It was amazing. I never expected to see a woman play billiard as she did. She played 18.2 balkline in a manner that would have reflected credit upon a Class B amateur champion. Her attitude at the table was easy and graceful, and her stroke was as solid as that of any profession.'” – New York Tribune, March 28, 1915
You couldn’t even give her Class A amateur?
Clarice Davis – Weightlifter
“Clarice Davis, student at the University of California here, who claims the woman’s weight lifting championship of the west, has been pronounced by Prof. Walter McGee, physical director of the university, the only perfect specimen of womanhood that has ever come under his observation.” – The Day Book, October 5, 1914
Congratulations, Clarice Davis!!! Ugh so jealous.
Annette Kellerman – Underwater Ballerina
“The ‘movies’ have caught Annette Kellerman, the wonderful water nymph!” – The Day Book, January 17, 1914
The core strength, lung capacity, and agility is takes to DANCE UNDERWATER is just adorable!
Marie Marvingt – “Sportswoman”
“Miss Marie Marvingt is known in her native land of France as the first sportswoman of the world. She can swim, ride, shoot, climb, fish, and drive a motor car and she does each beautifully.” – The Hays Free Press, November 15, 1913
If it’s not done beautifully has it even been done at all?
Hazel Hotchkiss – Tennis Player
“Jauntily garbed in a white sweater, a white suit, white shoes, white gloves and without a hat, Miss Hazel Hotchkiss, women’s tennis champion, stepped in to the county clerk’s office in Oakland to purchase a marriage license with which to play out a ‘set’ in the game of matrimony in which she claims the score of ‘love’ will run high.” – The Day Book, February 28, 1912
Similarly, US men’s volleyball players’ roles at home ‘serve’ as the safety ‘net’ for their children.
Mary Browne – Tennis Player
“It was a labor of love with the men who taught and developed Mary Brown until she defeated Molla Bjurstedt. She was pliable and plastic, perfect clay for their molding hands. They developed her game on all sides, gave it many facets, made it a man’s game, which is full of devices and resources, not a woman’s game, which is usually one strong point, baseline like Miss Bjurstedt and sheer power and strength as was Miss Sutton’s.” – The Ogden Standard, October 20, 1917
“Make it a man’s game.” – me to my editors
Olga Dorfner and Evelyn Burnett – Swimmers
“Miss Burnett captured the classic Western marathon last summer, and lately has been training under the expert guidance of Tom Whitaker, coach at the Missouri Athletic Club. She is said to be making great times in practice, and some believe she will prove a dangerous rival to the speedy Quaker maid.” – New York Tribune, June 13, 1915
Now here we go. Calling an athlete a “speedy Quaker maid” is the kind of innovation I’m talking about!
Suzanne Lenglen – Tennis Player
“The sensational French star is to be seen on our courts this summer and with her remarkable skill, consummate grace, raven locks, and colorful headdress should prove a tremendous drawing card.” – New York Tribune, July 17, 1921
“Tall, lithe, and graceful, Mlle Lenglen moves with fawn-like ease and freedom. With deeply tanned skin, bobbed brown hair, vivacious eyes and ever-ready smile, she gives the impression of free, unfettered, joyous youth. She is a wisp of a girl whose only care is to live and to enjoy.” – Bisbee Daily Review, July 31, 1921
TFW you’re a 22-year-old multi-title champion who will go on to win 30 titles by age 25 but also a wisp of a girl whose only care is to live and enjoy.
Elenora Sears – Equestrienne/Polo Player/”Sportswoman”
“She rides with all the skill of a man and her strength of wrist and arm is almost incredible.” – The Washington Herald, May 26, 1912.
The “almost” there is a flick on the forehead.
Aileen Riggin – Diver
“But the real little champion of the entire galaxy of water performers is the 13-year-old Aileen Riggin. Even her name is poetical. Her weight is but the tiny sum of seventy-five pounds. Yet Aileen is wonderful. They call her ‘the little girl with the perfect form in the water.’ Her smile wins everyone and after watching her gracefully leap from the springboard, it is to thrill, for she is Aileen – the wonder and wonderful.” – The Washington Herald, August 6, 1920
What a beautiful, concise, definitely not made up on the spot nickname.
Theresa Blanchard – Figure Skater
“Boston Woman Captures Fancy Skating Honors” – The New York Herald, February 28, 1921
Congratulations to Michael Phelps on his “fancy swimming awards.”
The Best Olympics Commentary From My Sports Newbie Girlfriend
Feature image via SportsCenter Twitter
It routinely shocks people how much I love sports. As a highly visible nerd, I don’t exactly radiate athleticism – but you’ll just as often catch me watching “the game” as reading up on the election or cracking that day’s crossword puzzle. It’s actually not a surprise if you’ve known me long enough; I grew up on a steady diet of WNBA games (including the first one ever!) and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, played basketball and baseball in community leagues, and managed the girls’ basketball team in high school. (And yes, I’ll say it before you do: how no one realized I was gay at that point is beyond me.)
My organized sports consumption has shifted toward spectatorship, but with no less enthusiasm. I read the sports section every day to dissect how we talk about sports and their messy collisions with gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, fame, and power. What do sports look like and why? What do they force us to confront about ourselves? Whose stories do they tell? Who gets left out?
It goes without saying that I love the Olympics. I routinely cry watching medal ceremonies because y’know what, you’re witnessing one of the greatest moments of these people’s lives and damn it, that is beautiful. My girlfriend, however, is not of this mind. I doubt multiple nights of wall-to-wall Rio coverage is what she signed up for when we got together. But here we are, with the Games wrapping up, and I daresay she has been a champion (heh) about the sudden influx of athletes and sports she’s never heard of into her life.
Perhaps you find yourself in a similar situation. So in tribute to those couples who have, at best, a 55% collective interest in all things Olympic, here is a selection of her finest feedback. For those of you who are flummoxed by your girlfriend’s sudden obsession with this international jock fest, may you see some of yourself reflected here (because media representation matters). And for my fellow athletics enthusiasts, may it serve as a reminder that sometimes, the uninitiated are the best watching partners of all.
1. “What sports is this?”
2. “He looks like everyone I went to USC with. Peak Jock Face.”
3. “Remember when you started crying when that girl won air rifle? We didn’t even watch air rifle.”
4. “I bet these gymnastics girls’ backs wouldn’t have hurt so much after last night.”
5. “Who decides which sports are in the Olympics?”
“The International Olympic Committee.”
“Who are they? Are they trolling?”
6. “I wish all of my hugs were in slow-mo.”
7. “We lost to SWEDENBORG. SWEDEN. Autocorrect doesn’t know what’s going on but I’m upset even though I didn’t watch because this feels like I should be affronted? Remember when Jessica Alba admonished a reporter on some red carpet issue by telling him to ‘be Sweden’? We lost to Jessica Alba’s bad geography. That’s why I’m insulted.”
8. “What’s his tattoo? I want to go up and touch it without permission and ask him what the significance of it is. That’s so fun, when people do that to me.”
9. “That false start wasn’t on purpose, right? That wasn’t, like, the fire drill of Olympic sports?”
“No… that’s why it’s called a false start.”
“I don’t watch the Olympics! I don’t know if this is normal!”
10. “Okay, so this is the final. Is that the one with the medals?”
11. “Wouldn’t you be embarrassed if your life-altering injury was sustained from table tennis? I don’t care if it’s at the Olympics, that’s still embarrassing.”
12. “There’s something silly about diving being an Olympic sport. I’m never not going to see diving as clowning around at the community pool.”
13. “What is that mascot? Seriously, why is that there? I feel like I’m watching one of those videos where people pass the basketball and you have to look for the guy in the gorilla suit.”
14. “She’s REALLY pretty. That’s, like, a face you would computer generate. It makes me mad.”
15. “I’m rooting for the crying guy.”
16. “Is he gonna do a medal?”
17. “You’re welcome for not knowing about the sports.”