The Olympics motto is "Faster, Higher, Stronger" but they might want to add Prouder. This past week during the Olympics another athlete competing in The Games came out. Today's Out Spotlight is Olympian archer Karen Hultzer.
Karen Hultzer was born September 16, 1965 in Cape Town, South Africa and represents South Africa in The Games in archery.
Hultzer began archery in 2007 and competed in her first National
tournament in March 2008. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Nationals
and a Gold medal at the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Nationals.
She first represented South Africa at the Archery World Cup in
Shanghai, China in August 2009 and subsequently represented the country
at the World Championships and other World Cup stages.
Tips from readers on various websites listing out Olympians said that Hultzer's partner Tracey Kim Saunders made to South African gay lifestyle website, MambaOnline.
On the website Saunders told MambaOnline that Hultzer "is happy to be identified as a gay athlete."
According to OutSports, Hultzer had reportedly originally declined commenting on her sexuality because "she was wary of talking for fear that she might get distracted by more media attention ahead of the potential conclusion of her competition on Aug. 3."
She had never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation. Until now.
Hultzer reach out to Outsports after realizing the cat was out of the bag. She told them to "go wild." and gave them her first public statement about her sexual orientation:
I am an archer, middle aged and a lesbian. I am also cranky before my first cup of coffee. None of these aspects define who I am, they are simply part of me. I am fortunate that my sexual identity is not an issue, and I don’t suffer the level of discrimination and violence that black lesbians in South Africa do. I look forward to the day when this is a non-issue and as relevant as my eye color or favorite sushi.Perhaps with her partners comment -- or because she was no longer competing, she was eliminated from the competition last Monday, after being defeated by Pia Lionetti of Italy she felt it the time was right.
Hultzer is one of a few openly LGBT Olympians competing this summer, she raised that number to 22, and is the only archer.
In the Beijing Games (2008) there were 10 openly gay or lesbian athletes and in Athens (2004) there were 11. Almost all the athletes on the 2012 list are from Europe, the US and
Australia; reflecting the continued challenges and stigma faced by many
LGBT people in other parts of the world.She is also only the second South African Summer Olympian to come out in history, following beach volleyballer Leigh-Ann Naidoo in 2004. Hultzer is the only openly gay competitor from the African continent in this years games.
14 comments:
I guess Jake isn't interested in Dakota Fanning. I wonder why. She is kinda cute:-)
I wonder why things never worked out with the Argentine model Jake was supposed to be so into. Oh I forgot someone made that up. Why would someone need the urge to make up a gf for Jake. Guess because they know he is not into girls:-0
I love the Hultzer also identified as middle-aged.
I have tried to shot a bow before. It takes tremendous strength. Kudos to Hultzer.
Jake has been linked to a lot of beautuful women. I guess he just hasn't found that perfect woman to have his children yet.
hi polly
Nah, looks like we're just ignoring the Troll.
LOLLLLLL!!! Aw, I kill myself sometimes. ;D
Some of us who post tweets on here will decide when, what, and why as far as tweets are concerned.
We don't post any Tom, Dick & Harry tweet when it comes to Jake & Austin anymore unlike other sites where the number of tweets now outnumber the amount of comments 3:1.
#1 chief reason, we refuse to be a tool of their publicity agents. We're not going to be their parrot, trumpeting where it is they want their clients to be located.
#2, not all tweets are true; this is a branch off of chief reason #1. Some sites are posting tweets that are either just stupid or else I swear, the poster doesn't even think through the likelihood/logical reasoning of the tweet they're posting before they even put it up. They just slap it up willy nilly because it has Jake's name on it.
There come times when you sit back in the rocker and you just watch/observe. Then we'll decide how the puzzle pieces together.
And might I say too that Special's blog is not a cork board solely to stickpin a copy/paste job.
Special puts a lot of time and thought into her posts. So I think that trickles down to a lot of comments that you see on here (well, mine aren't always that worthy. I put up some mundane trivials, that's for sure) which are inspired and sincere. If at the very least, they are in the moment of emotion. This blog is still a community where some of us still share some personal experiences and thoughts in addition to posting links and stories of interest.
You can't force conversation and chatter. It will come when there's something to gab about.
I look forward to the day when ol' Jason pokes his head back in for a hello.
: )
Singer Mika comes out
"British Pop Star Mika: Yeah I'm Gay. This is My Real Life."
British pop star Mika, who told a Dutch magazine in 2009 that he was bisexual after months of refusing to address his sexuality, indicates to Instinct magazine that his understanding of his sexuality has become more finely tuned:
Earlier this week, in a world exclusive, Mika sat down with Instinct to set the record straight (so to speak): “If you ask me am I gay, I say yeah. Are these songs about my relationship with a man? I say yeah. And it’s only through my music that I’ve found the strength to come to terms with my sexuality beyond the context of just my lyrics. This is my real life.”
You can read the whole thing and check out his new track Celebrate at Towleroad
Never heard of Mika. Had to google him. He is very cute and his song celebrate is good. The closet is a thing of the past. It is a shame people are being left behind..
A friend that I made a while ago asked me today if I was str8 or gay. It was so easy to tell him the truth. How good that felt. He then went home and posted a really nice post on Facebook how many str8 folks also are not supportive of Mr Cathy's(Chick Fil A) views. He also said he would never eat there gain. It felt really good.
I don't know if I would say the closet is a total thing of the past. I bet I have co-workers who may be gay but I don't know it. I don't need to know as it would not be affecting the work relationship.
Some people may be cross dressers. Some of us write slash. Some people literally pull their hair out. Some people are into sub/dom relationships. Some people are estranged from their parents or haven't talked to a sibling for years. All of us have some aspects of our personal life that we may not necessarily trumpet out for everyone to know.
We don't need to know all of these things.
My issue is when someone campaigns the opposite or what is contradictory to what they know is the truth. And not only that, but push it out there to promote a different image. That's when I have an issue.
Other than that, I think everyone is on a unique timetable because everyone's life situation is different. What is a right time for one person is not necessarily right for all.
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