Out Spotlight

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.

She made her first public statement regarding her sexuality to online LGBT sports blog OutSports.com this past week.

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.