Queer athletes with Olympic dreams received an early spotlight in 1982’s ‘Personal Best’
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, in the spirit of the Olympics, we’re revisiting 1982’s sapphic sports classic Personal Best.Happy 2024 Olympics!
As we continue to ignore our work duties and focus all of our attention on the world’s best competing for medals—especially in a year with more LGBTQ+ representation (and controversies) than ever—this week we’ll look back at a film that centered the Olympic dreams of young athletes at a time when identity proved to be their biggest hurdle.There’s a long and complicated history of LGBTQ+ people in the Olympic games, and in professional sports in general.
Although now we can root for plenty of out athletes competing, earning medals, and setting records around the globe, the sports world has historically been one of tradition and oppression.
From strict gender binaries and discriminatory systems, it’s taken decades for queer athletes to become as visible as they are today, with a lot more road to keep carving ahead.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.It’s calculated that only about 140 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competed in the Olympics prior to 2000, a time when living an openly queer life wasn’t nearly as feasible as it is today.
