Library - History - Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage

Croce-Spinelli (?-1875) and Sivel (?-1875) were gay French balloonists and lovers. They died together in a ballooning accident at 26,000 feet over India (the air grew too thin and they were asphyxiated). In a "tribute to their comradeship in life and death," the "huge marble monument over the tomb that they share in Pere Lachaise Cemetery portrays the men lying together side by side, hand in hand, presumably naked, but covered by a sculptured sheet from the waist down. There are flowers in their hands." The monument is one of the most talked-about in the Paris cemetery.

William ("Big Bill") Tilden (1893-1953) was a gay American tennis player. He is regarded by many as the greatest player of all time. Tilden developed late, not winning his first major title (Wimbledon) until 1920, at the age of 27. He was the first American to win there, and during the 1920s he remained undefeated in any major match for seven years. He also represented the U.S. on the Davis Cup team every season from 1920 through 1930. When his homosexuality became better known, he was ostracised from the tennis world and was banned from the most prestigious tennis courts; his earnings were dramatically cut. Eventually he was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sent to prison in 1947 (serving six months of a one-year sentence), although it was clear that the young man with whom he was caught having sex had no objection to the sexual relations. In 1949, despite these troubles, he was voted the most outstanding athlete of the first half of the twentieth century by the National Sports Writers Association, with ten times the number of votes of the nearest runner- up. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, impoverished (he had been reduced to pawning his trophies) and in relative obscurity.

John Menlove Edwards (1910-1958) was a gay British rock-climber and athlete. While studing psychological medicine at Liverpool University, he played hockey and cricket and also helped found Liverpool University Rock-Climbing Club (the first of its kind in Britain) in 1930. He is often regarded as the father of the modern sport of rock-climbing. In 1935, Edwards fell in love with Wilfred Noyce (see below), a seventeen-year-old schoolboy. They spent much time together, and in 1936 they worked together on a guidebook for the Climbers' Club. Edwards committed suicide after many years of bouts with depression and paranoia.

Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, (1914-1956) was a lesbian American athlete who excelled in several sports. She is considered the top female athlete of the first half of the 20th Century. Babe excelled in basketball, swimming, track & field, and golf; she also played baseball, bowled, and played tennis. In college, her sports were basketball and track & field. By 1930, she was a star player; she played on the All-American women's basketball team. She also dominated women's track & field; she was the star of the 1931 National AAU track meet, and in 1932, single-handedly won the team title; in the 1932 Summer Olympics, she won gold medals in the javelin throw and the 80- meter hurdles (setting records in both events), plus a silver medal in the high jump--she might have won more, but was restricted to only three events. She won or shared ten AAU titles in six events, and would have added to that tally if she had not become a professional basketball player. During the 1930s, Babe took up golf, and excelled at that, too; she had 31 career victories (including 12 majors). She has a place in several halls of fame: in 1951, she was inducted into the Women's Golf (now LPGA) Hall of Fame; in 1974, she was inducted into the USATF National Track & Field Hall of Fame; in 1980, she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (for golf and track); in 1983, she was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Babe was married to wrestling promoter George Zaharias. She died of cancer at 42.

Wilfred Noyce (1918-?) was a probably gay British mountaineer. After his affair with John Menlove Edwards (see above), Noyce went to King's College Cambridge and started a relationship with Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877-1959), an economist and Fellow of the college. Pigou introduced Noyce to rock-climbing and took him to the Alps. Both joined the Friends' Ambulance Corps at the start of World War II. In 1950, Noyce married and had two sons. He was a member of the 1953 Everest expedition, becoming the first man to reach the South Col.

Dick Button (1929-) is a gay American former figure skater and now sports commentator. He won a silver medal at the 1947 World Championships, followed by gold medals each of the next five years. Button won a gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics, and again at the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics, becoming the first skater to performa triple jump, toe loop, and double axel. He also invented the flying camel spin. Button is probably best known today as an Emmy award-winning sports commentator. On July 5, 1978, Button and five other victims were attacked with baseball bats by a gang of teenagers in New York's Central Park. The gay-bashing left all six victims with skull fractures; Button also suffered serious nerve damage and permanent hearing loss in one ear. In 1996, Button was named to the 100 Golden Olympians (a USOC program to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games and honor America's best Olympic athletes).

Tom Waddell (1937-1987) was a gay American physician and athlete. He played college football, was a gymnast, and excelled in track and field.. He placed sixth in the decathlon at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics. In 1976, he came out in American People magazine. In 1980, Waddell proposed the idea of a Gay Olympics; with others, he founded the Gay Games (the name change was due to a lawsuit by the U.S.O.C. over the Olympics trademark; Waddell had to mortgage his house to pay the legal fees). The first two Gay Games were held in San Francisco, in 1982 and 1986. Four weeks before the 1986 Gay Games, Waddell was diagnosed as having pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. However, he competed at the games in track and field and won a gold medal in the javelin throw. He died of an AIDS-related disease at age 49.

Billie Jean King (1943-) is a bisexual American tennis player. "She overcame 20/400 vision, breathing problems, and numerous knee operations" to win 20 Wimbledon titles (six singles, ten women's doubles, and four mixed doubles), the most for any player. King founded the first all-women's tennis tour, and became the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 per year. She is probably best known for the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" match against admitted male chauvinist Bobby Riggs (she beat him 6-4, 6-3, 6-3) and the 1981 "palimony" suit brought by her secretary, Marilyn Barnett (Billie Jean acknowledged the affair). The latter incident cost King a lot of money in lost endorsements. In 1980, she was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, Billie Jean, with Frank Deford, was published in 1982. In September, 1994, King was the highest-ranked of only four women to make Sports Illustrated's 40th Anniversary issue Top 40 Athletes list, for significantly altering or elevating sports in the last four decades.

We'll continue next time with more recent gay athletes, including John Curry, Mufflin Spencer-Devlin, and Scott Cranham...along with Martina and Greg.

Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage by Bruce Britton - Part 8
Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage by Bruce Britton - Part 10

Library - History - Our Gay and Lesbian Heritage