39 LGBTQ Athletes Who Overcame Fear And Prejudice To Reveal Themselves To The World

Today LGBTQ people can celebrate who they are, and sports is a big part of this event. However in reality till very recently was tyhat people from this community have had to hide their identity for fear of social persecution.

They've had to raise their voice, fight for their rights and own their identity through decades-long struggles. But one can't help but be inspired by their stories of courage. They've stood up for themselves and through that, supported others like them.

Here is the List of LGBTQ athletes from around the world who came forward to reveal their identities:

1. Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, a silver medallist became the first Olympic skier to come out as gay in 2015

reuters

2. Brazilian soccer player Marta revealed her a relationship with Orlando Pride teammate Toni Pressley

reuters

3. Caster Semenyam, a South African middle distance runner, married her partner Violet Raseboya in 2015

reuters

4. Former tennis player Billie Jean King revealed the truth that she is gay in 1981

reuters

5. Canadian pairs figure skater Eric Radford became the first openly gay man to have won a gold medal at any Winter Olympics

reuters

6. Ryan Russell revealed that he is bisexual in a first-person account on ESPN. He played for The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and The Dallas Cowboys

reuters

7. Olympic gold medallist Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender in 2015

reuters

8. Amanda Nunes is the first lesbian to win two UFC championship belts

reuters

9. Defensive lineman Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted in the NFL

reuters

10. Tennis player Martina Navratilova came out as gay in 1981

reuters

11. Jason Collins, a veteran NBA center, revealed in 2013 he is gay in a first-person account published in Sports Illustrated

reuters

12. 2018 Asian Games double silver medalist Dutee Chand has become the first Indian athlete to acknowledge that she is in a same-sex relationship

reuters

13. Having won two Olympic gold medals, diver Greg Louganis revealed himself as a homosexual in 1994 and a year later announced he was HIV-positive.

reuters

14. U.S. women's soccer team player Megan Rapinoe revealed in an interview with Out magazine that she is gay just before the 2012 London Olympics

reuters

15. Former australian swimmer Ian Thrope who won five olympic gold medals came out in 2014

reuters

16. Former French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo revealed it in 1999

reuters

17. Former WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes revealed about her sexuality in an interview with ESPN The Magazine

reuters

18. 2018 winter Olympic bronze medalkist Adam Rippon is the first gay man to come out in figure skating

reuters

19. U.S. women's national soccer team members Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger are engaged to be married

reuters

20. Former MLB player Billy Bean found the courage to come out and let the world know he was gay in 1999, and since 2014 has served as MLB's first ambassador for inclusion

reuters

21. Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand who won international weightlifting title became the first transgender woman to do so.

reuters

22. Canada women's hockey team captain Caroline Ouellette married American hockey player Julie Chu

23. Transgender tennis player Renee Richards was captain of the Yale tennis team as a man. She was denied the to play in the 1976 U.S. Open after transitioning

reuters

24. Diana Nyad long-distance swimmer of America who became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, came out as gay when she was 21.

reuters

25. 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner came out as a gay in 2013. She became the first openly gay athlete signed an endorsement deal with Nike

reuters

26. Transgender Thai boxer Parinya Charoenphol first garnered public attention after she won a Muay Thai match at the age of 16

reuters

27. Winner of two Olympic gold medals, American soccer player Abby Wambach kissed her wife at afther winning FIFA World Cup in 2015 in front of around 26 million viewers

reuters

28. Figure skater Johnny Weir came out as gay in memoir titled "Welcome to My World"

reuters

29. Midfielder Robbie Rogers, who played on the U.S. national soccer team, came out as gay in 2013

reuters

30. U.S. speedskater Brittany Bowe is dating Dutch speedskater Manon Kamminga

reuters

31. British diver Tom Daley married screenwriter Dustin Lance Black in 2017. He announced he was bisexual in on YouTube in 2013

reuters

32. Boxer Orlando Cruz from Puerto Rico came out in 2012 and became the first gay active professional boxer

reuters

33. Basketball player Sue Bird and U.S. women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe are currently dating each other

reuters

34. Former Canadian Olympic swimmer Mark Tewksbury made the revelation in 1998

reuters

35. U.S. women's soccer coach Jill Ellis married Betsy Stephenson in 2013

reuters

36. During an interview with CNN in 2013, former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Kwame Harris revealed he is gay

reuters

37. Orlando Magic center John Amaechi became the first former NBA player to come out publicly in his 2007 memoir "Man in the Middle"

reuters

38. Pia Sundhagem a Swedish soccer player who also coached the U.S. women's national team before moving to coach Brazil's women's squad came out as a lesbian

reuters

39. Boxer Emile Griffith, who died in July 2013, said later in life that he was bisexual

reuters