The New York Times ran a full-page Sunday story on Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who is regarded as one of the greatest athletes, male or female, of the 20th Century. The piece focused on her athletic triumphs in various sports (track & field and golf, in particular), her fading public recognition and how she changed women’s sports. I was surprised that her sexual orientation was given a passing reference (“They whispered she was a lesbian…”), given she has long been recognized as a lesbian athlete.
As we've mentioned here for the last couple weeks, we are putting together our own "history of gay sports" project that we will begin unveiling next week. The list covers 1970 to the present day, so Babe won't be in it – so it was nice to see her legacy get some coverage from the Times (and on New York's gay pride day, no less).
The New York Times ran a full-page Sunday story on Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who is regarded as one of the greatest athletes, male or female, of the 20th Century. The piece focused on her athletic triumphs in various sports (track & field and golf, in particular), her fading public recognition and how she changed women’s sports. I was surprised that her sexual orientation was given a passing reference (“They whispered she was a lesbian…”), given she has long been recognized as a lesbian athlete.
As we've mentioned here for the last couple weeks, we are putting together our own "history of gay sports" project that we will begin unveiling next week. The list covers 1970 to the present day, so Babe won't be in it – so it was nice to see her legacy get some coverage from the Times (and on New York's gay pride day, no less).
