Embracing Stereotypes: Lesbians Moving The Ticker Forward

"She must be one. Oh yeah, her too. And her. She's so good at sports, she's got to be a lesbian." Historically, the L of LGBT has been stereotyped, categorized and for some reason chosen as the sect of LGBT individuals who are not only accepted in sport but more so expected to be there. In fact, since sports originated in the roots of establishing masculinity, it was assumed that any woman who was strong or competent at a particular athletic activity must be manly, or in other words a lesbian.

Since when did masculinity = lesbian? Since when did being athletic mean you were LGBT? Oh right, those are heinous stereotypes that STILL EXIST! Regardless, stereotypes are called such because they have no logical basis and are discriminatory and often despicable. But rather than fight, scream and yell, is there a better way to embrace a falsehood rather than refute it?

The lessons learned from the inclusion of lesbians in sport can be a useful starting point for working towards promoting acceptance of the GBT part of the LGBT acronym. Lesbians who participate and exist within athletic communities, and their supporters, can and need to voice their support of gay, bisexual and transgender athletes. They can exemplify that LGBT people exist in sports and are damn good at them.

Imagine the power of a positive message that could come out of a horrendously negative situation. See what 11 powerful lesbians in sport have been able to accomplish here. The biggest names of them all, Billie Jean King, has transformed sport to be welcoming to LGBT athletes,  garnered millions of impressions and publicity including having her name all over the U.S. Tennis Open and defeated a male in a legitimate pro tennis match. Wow, go girl.

We cannot all be Billie Jean, but we certainly can learn from her inspiring example. Embrace lesbianism in sport, realize the timeline of out lesbians in athletic communities and use it for moving the equality ticker forward. Next time you hear someone spitting a nasty homophobic slur at an incredible female athlete, respond with a thank you rather than a middle finger. It may be seem an oxymoron to do so, but positive energy usually goes a lot further than hate, hostility and frustration.