The OutField: 3000 years of gay sports stars |
pride source.com - Farmington, MI, USA - Martina Navratilova. Esera Tuaolo. Dave Kopay. Billy Bean. Billie Jean King. The list is short, but the names are familiar - modern-day, openly gay athletes.
Yet gay sports did not suddenly appear, full blown, in the waning days of the 20th century. Less known - but equally important - are athletes like these: Ana Maria Sagi, Wilhelm Von Homburg, Erik Schinegger, and Joan of Arc.
"Joan of Arc?!"
Their stories, and those of a dozen other sportsmen and women (read down to find out how Joan of Arc made the cut) are rivetingly told in "The Lavender Locker Room." The recent book by Patricia Nell Warren was awarded the 2007 Independent Publisher Gold Medal in the gay/lesbian category, was a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Awards, and is the number one gay history title on Amazon.com. First famed as the author of "The Front Runner," a groundbreaking 1974 novel about a gay Olympian and his coach, and more recently as a 70-year-old candidate for the West Hollywood City Council, Warren now plows new ground by traveling old, but unfamiliar, territory.
"The Lavender Locker Room" began more than four years ago, when Warren visited OutSports.com. The website did a great job covering the sports world from a gay perspective, she says, but lacked historical references. She asked site founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Ziegler if they'd ever heard of John Damien, a gay Canadian jockey who sued and - after more than a decade - won a wrongful dismissal case.
When they said no, she proposed a gay history archive on the site. Fifteen profiles later, she realized she had a book.
Yet gay sports did not suddenly appear, full blown, in the waning days of the 20th century. Less known - but equally important - are athletes like these: Ana Maria Sagi, Wilhelm Von Homburg, Erik Schinegger, and Joan of Arc.
"Joan of Arc?!"
Their stories, and those of a dozen other sportsmen and women (read down to find out how Joan of Arc made the cut) are rivetingly told in "The Lavender Locker Room." The recent book by Patricia Nell Warren was awarded the 2007 Independent Publisher Gold Medal in the gay/lesbian category, was a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Awards, and is the number one gay history title on Amazon.com. First famed as the author of "The Front Runner," a groundbreaking 1974 novel about a gay Olympian and his coach, and more recently as a 70-year-old candidate for the West Hollywood City Council, Warren now plows new ground by traveling old, but unfamiliar, territory.
"The Lavender Locker Room" began more than four years ago, when Warren visited OutSports.com. The website did a great job covering the sports world from a gay perspective, she says, but lacked historical references. She asked site founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Ziegler if they'd ever heard of John Damien, a gay Canadian jockey who sued and - after more than a decade - won a wrongful dismissal case.
When they said no, she proposed a gay history archive on the site. Fifteen profiles later, she realized she had a book.
Categories : Athlete News
Posted 6/25/2007 12:06:18 AM | Permalink
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