Martina Navratilova on Pride Month: "It's good not to be censored anymore"
The American superstar Martina Navratilova was one of the first athletes to go public with their homosexuality. 40 years later, a lot has changed.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jun 16, 2021, 09:10 pm
In 1981 she had her outing: Martina Navratilova, one of the most successful tennis players this world has ever seen, went on the offensive when she changed her citizenship from what was then Czechoslovakia to the USA when it came to her sexual orientation. In an interview with the “New York Daily” she revealed 40 years ago what many players still keep to themselves today.
“That we're having Pride month - across the country - that's a good thing. We have Pride days in the NHL, the NFL, baseball, everywhere. It wasn't always like that, ”wrote Martina Navratilova Wednesday in an article for the official WTA homepage. "When the WNBA (the American women's basketball league) began, the TV cameras practically destroyed themselves, just so as not to show any lesbian women in the audience - and the entire audience was actually just them."
"I advise all people to just be themselves"
“The cameras were mostly aimed at the families, or at one or the other straight couple. They always turned away from the lesbian couples. When they showed my box at Wimbledon, the commentator would say, 'Oh, there's Martina's boyfriend'. So it was always kept silent about it, ignored or named as something other than what it really was. It's really good these days not to have to censor yourself anymore, or rather, not to be censored anymore. "
In fact, since the 18-time Grand Slam winner made her lesbian orientation public, a lot has changed for the better. However, the native Bohemian also thinks that there is still a lot to modernize: “I'm surprised that we haven't seen more players come out in recent years. It takes a lot of energy to carry that. It's tiring. I advise all people to just be themselves. You don't have to announce it. It is enough to say: 'You know, by the way, that's how it is.' And that was it."