Lesbian Couple Makes History Playing Together at Wimbledon | Time
This is not the first time the couple has made headlines at Wimbledon. Last year, after defeating then-reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza to reach the third round of the tournament, van Uytvanck immediately headed to kiss her girlfriend sat in the stands. “I know it was a big deal but we just didn’t think about it,” said Minnen in an interview with the Telegraph. “She had just made the biggest win of her career and I was so happy and not thinking in that moment.”
While the number of gay athletes in the sport is still low, included in their numbers are tennis legends. Billie Jean King, famous for her defeat of Bobby Riggs in the 1973 “battle of the sexes” was outed as a lesbian in a 1981 lawsuit. Martina Navratilova came out as a bisexual in a 1981 interview, though she has since described herself as a lesbian. And in 1976, transgender woman Renee Richards made history when she sued the US Tennis Association and won so she could compete in the Women’s U.S. Open.
In addition to van Uytvanck and Minnen, two other out gay women — Johanna Larsson of Sweden and Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands — competed in this year’s singles tournament.
Among male players, however, being out is still a rarity. American Brian Vahaly is the only known gay male tennis player, and he didn’t come out until ten years after he retired from professional tennis. Vahaly previously told the Telegraph that when he was playing professionally he, “heard homophobia all the time – it was part of the culture”
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