Out Paralympian Robyn Lambird has spoken frankly about their experience of ableism, saying perceptions of disability often make it “hard to feel empowered and sexy”. The 24-year-old Australian wheelchair racer will compete in the women’s T34 100m Wheelchair Sprint this month as one of three out non-binary athletes in Tokyo. They were diagnosed with cerebral
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Tom Daley tears up as he waits to receive his gold medal on 26 July, 2021. (OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty) Tom Daley has opened up about undergoing surgery weeks before the Olympics after an injury left him unable to walk. The British diving champion has been striving for an Olympic gold medal since the age of 14
Team USA’s Kristie Mewis embraces Sam Kerr of Australia after the Olympic football bronze medal match between US and Australia on 5 August 2021. (Getty/Zhizhao Wu) Olympians Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr have revealed that they are officially dating with the most adorable photo on Instagram. Even before the Tokyo 2020 games, rumours swirled online
Fabio Fognini at the National Bank Open tennis tournament first round game on 9 August, 2021 in Toronto. (Icon Sportswire via Getty/ Julian Avram) Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini, who was condemned for his using homophobic slurs during the Olympics, returned to the court in a rainbow outfit. Fognini repeatedly yelled a homophobic slur after
Megan Rapinoe kisses her fiancée Sue Bird after she won the Gold Medal following the women’s basketball final between the United States and Japan. (Getty/ Jean Catuffe) Sue Bird shared a sweet kiss with fiancée Megan Rapinoe, celebrating her fifth gold medal and marking what is likely to be the couple’s final Olympics together. On
Megan Rapinoe (L), Tom Daley (C) and Laurel Hubbard are among the LGBT+ athletes representing their countries at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Alex Grimm/Matthew Stockman/Scott Barbour/Getty) If LGBT+ Olympic athletes competed as a team, they would have come 11th in this year’s Tokyo Games, research has found. A total of 55 out LGBT+ athletes
Team GB’s Tom Daley poses with bronze medal after the ceremony for the men’s 10m platform final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on 7 August 2021. (Getty/Clive Rose) Olympian Tom Daley has spoken out about the importance of being an out athlete after being targeted in anti-LGBT+ commentary on Russian state TV. The International
Silver medallist USA’s Erica Sullivan poses on the podium after the final of the women’s 1500m freestyle swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Getty/Odd ANDERSEN/AFP) Silver medalist Erica Sullivan has revealed that an interaction with her favourite singer on social media fuelled her Olympic dreams. The 20-year-old, who came out as gay in
Fumino Sugiyama, a transgender man and former fencer, says he was forced out of fencing because of transphobia. (Instagram/@fuminosugiyama) Former elite fencer Fumino Sugiyama has opened up about deciding to quit his career in sport because of transphobia. Sugiyama told Bloomberg that he was a member of Japan’s national women’s fencing team before he started
Carl Nassib, the first openly gay NFL player, flexes while smiling before a game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Denver Broncos on 15 November 2020. (Getty/Ethan Miller) Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr says Carl Nassib, the first active gay NFL player, hasn’t been treated differently since he came out earlier this year.
Britain’s Tom Daley competes in the preliminary round of the men’s 10m platform diving. (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images) Tom Daley put his knitting needles down to return to the diving board once again, inching closer to a second medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The British diver finished fourth place in the individual men’s 10 metres
Former president Donald Trump brands US women’s football team ‘leftist maniacs’ and targets Megan Rapinoe’s purple hair in a rant. (Getty/Brandon Bell/Laurence Griffiths) Former president Donald Trump tried to burn Megan Rapinoe and the “wokesters” on the US women’s soccer team after they won bronze at the Olympics – and it failed so bad. Trump
Tom Daley, Amandine Buchard and Carl Hester are among the several out LGBT+ athletes to have won medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. (Getty/Clive Rose/Franck FIFE/AFP/Julian Finney) If LGBT+ Olympic athletes were a country, they would be tied with Brazil and Switzerland on the leaderboard for the 2020 Tokyo games. There are at least
Canoeist Haley Daniels will see her trans mother judge her at the Tokyo Olympics. (Koki Nagahama/Getty Images) A Canadian judge has become the Olympic Games’ first-ever openly trans official – and she even has a daughter competing. At the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, more openly LGBT+ athletes will dive, sprint, cycle and throw than ever
Celia Quansah, Tom Bosworth, Demi Stokes, Tom Daley. (Getty) We’re spoilt for choice at this year’s Olympics as the number of out LGBT+ athletes has more than doubled since the 2016 Summer games. The US is leading the way with 47 out athletes, including the phenomenal Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Erica Sullivan and Kayla Miracle.
A giant trans flag unfurled outside the US Supreme Court. (Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) West Virginia must pause enforcement of a new law that prohibits trans women and girls from participating in sports after a trans youth challenged the vile law. The West Virginia ban was “proudly” signed into law by Republican
Hans Peter Minderhoud and Edward Gal pose with their Silver medals at the 2013 FEI Dressage European Championships in Denmark (Henning Bagger/AFP/Getty) A gay Dutch couple, Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud, will compete side-by-side in a team dressage event at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Gal and Minderhoud will be representing the Netherlands in the
Rainbow flag inside the stadium during the UEFA Euro 2020: Round of 16 match between Netherlands and Czech Republic. (Andre Weening/BSR Agency/Getty Images) Volkswagen has claimed that UEFA blocked the company from using rainbow-coloured banners on advertising boards at the Euro 2020 quarter-finals in Russia and Azerbaijan. The auto-maker, a years-long sponsor of the football
New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has received an outpouring of support from prime minister Jacinda Ardern. Hubbard, 43, became the first openly trans athlete to be selected for the Olympics when she was picked for the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team for Toyko 2020. Ardern offered Hubbard her full support. “All parties here have simply
Mexico fans at a friendly football match with Honduras on June 12, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP) Mexico will play its next two World Cup home matches in an empty stadium as punishment for fans’ homophobic chanting, FIFA has announced. All spectators will be banned from the World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica (2 September)
Becky Pepper-Jackson comes from a family of avid runners. (ACLU) An 11-year-old trans kid and her mum have filed a lawsuit in West Virginia to allow her to run on the girls’ team at school. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a cross country runner, was told by her school principal in May that if she wanted to try
Members of Biarritz Olympique sporting Grindr-sponsored uniforms. (Biarritz Olympique/Grindr/Twitter) Grindr has hooked up with a top rugby team to design a versatile jersey set – all the while making sports more inclusive. The queer dating app announced on its Twitter page Wednesday (26 May) as the new sponsor for French professional rugby club Biarritz Olympique. In
Israel Folau speaks to the media during a press conference at the Hilton Hotel on 21 May 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) Disgraced athlete Israel Folau said he has “no regrets” as he announced his comeback to Australian rugby, two years after he was sacked for homophobia. Folau announced he hopes to
Katie Sowers made Super Bowl history on Sunday (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/Getty) National Football League (NFL) coach Katie Sowers was once stopped from coaching a basketball team because parents had “concerns” about her sexuality. Before she became the first openly gay and first female coach in Super Bowl history, Sowers competed a basketball
Fallon Fox. (Noam Galai/WireImage Venerable mixed martial arts fighter Fallon Fox, once hesitant to be openly trans, is set to have a biopic made about her life and career. The 45-year-old, who picked up odd jobs as a truck driver to raise money for gender affirmation surgery, became the first openly trans MMA athlete after
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum speaks at a press conference announcing plans for the clean up of the Oceti Sakowin protest camp on 22 February 2017 in Mandan, North Dakota. (Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images) North Dakota governor Doug Burgum vetoed an anti-trans sports ban, but signed a “free speech” bill that critics warn allows
Rebekah in the ACLU video “Meet the girl who lawmakers want to ban from playing sports”. (YouTube/Human Rights Campaign) A 14-year-old girl who plays field hockey at school has told lawmakers considering anti-trans bills that she just wants to play sports with her friends. In a three-minute Human Rights Campaign video, Rebekah says sports are
Yasiel Puig. (Getty/ David Maxwell) The woman accusing Major League Baseball (MLB) star Yasiel Puig of sexual assault has said they couldn’t have had consensual sex because she’s an “out and proud lesbian”. The woman filed a lawsuit against Puig in 2020, alleging that he sexually assaulted her in 2018 in the bathroom at a
Emily Bridges. (Instagram) The mum of trans cyclist Emily Bridges has hit out at “hysteria” surrounding her daughter after an unnamed coach allegedly shared “misinformation and lies” about her. Emily’s mum Sandy issued a statement on Twitter on Saturday (3 April) in which she sought to debunk some of the misinformation being circulated online. “Somebody
Tennessee became Friday (26 March) the third US state to cruelly pass a bill banning trans girls from playing in middle and high school sports as their correct gender. State governor Bill Lee announced on Twitter he had signed Senate Bill 228 to “preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition”. Such a view, the American Civil