Greg Louganis began competing in diving at age 10. By 16, he had won his first Olympic medal, a silver medal on the platform in 1976. At 24, he became the first man in 56 years to win two gold medals in diving by winning both the platform and springboard events. In 1988, competing against divers half his age, he became the first to win double gold medals for diving in two consecutive Olympics.

Greg's diving accomplishments do not stop there. He is a six time World Champion and has held 47 National Championship titles. At the Pan Am Games he earned six gold medals and in 1985 he was awarded the Sullivan Award as the nation's most outstanding amateur athlete.

Martina Navratilova has been described as the greatest female athlete of this century.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1956, Navratilova first visited the United States in in 1973. Two years later, she defected to the U.S., requesting political asylum. She became an American citizen in 1981.

As a singles Tennis Player, she has won 167 titles including a record nine at Wimbledon. Her victory in the 1995 Wimbledon mixed doubles extended her total of Wimbledon titles to 19, one short of Billie Jean King's record.

Billy Bean played major league baseball from 1987 through 1995. He broke into the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers, and tied a major league record with 4 hits in his first major league game. He went on to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres. Born in Santa Ana, California in 1964. He was a multi-sport star at Santa Ana High School, where he was chosen "athlete of the year" as a senior. He was selected Valedictorian of his graduating class, and went on to become an "All-America" outfielder twice before graduating from Loyola Marymount University in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration.

For nine years, Esera Tuaolo excelled in the N.F.L. as a defensive lineman: he played for five different teams and went to Super Bowl XXXIII with the Atlanta Falcons. He played with some of football's greatest, including Brett Farve, John Randle and Jack Del Rio. He even sang the national anthem in uniform at a nationally televised Monday night game as a rookie and at the 1999 Pro-Bowl.

But as a gay man in the hyper-masculine culture of professional football, Tuaolo was forced to hide his sexuality. The secret crippled him, leading him to drink excessively and contemplate suicide. It also hindered his football achievements, as he felt that if he were too good a player, he would be exposed as a homosexual. He led a double life that deeply depressed him, but which he now looks back on with a new perspective. During this difficult time, he persevered by following his mother's example and maintaining his strong spiritual faith.  

 

For many gay men, the high school years were a difficult experience. Ask those same gay men to name the most stressful part of that high school era and you'd be surprised to hear the same answer over and over again. "The most traumatic class for me in High School was Physical Education!" says Steve Armijo, a resident of Long Beach, California.

"I hated PE. It was so intimidating having to be athletic in front of the other guys. I had no hand-eye coordination and so I was constantly dropping the football.the baseball.the basketball.the soccer ball...any kind of ball! Everytime I messed up, the other guys would be really cruel and mean , P.E. was institutionalized torture for me." Steve at age 16, was shy, averse to P.E. classes, ostracized by the "regular" boys, preferring to read celebrity tabloids and watch 'Dynasty' alone in his room.

Man On!
Turner Kane

Greg Williams is an upcoming British soccer star whose professional life is going up, while his personal life seems adrift due to his searches for a boyfriend. Following a sexual encounter with his best friend Matt who's to be soon married, Greg can no longer hide his feelings for Matt, but Matt avoids Greg at all costs.

Take Me Out
Richard Greenberg

Darren Lemming is the star center fielder for the champion New York Empires. An extraordinary athlete, he fills both his fans and his teammates with awe at his abilities and his presence on the field and off. When he makes the matter-of-fact announcement that he's gay, he throws his team into turmoil and confusion, while he also emboldens his closeted accountant, Mason Marzac, to come to terms with his own sexuality--and to fully experience the pure joy of watching great athletes play a sport as well as it can be played.

Scrub Match
Bill Eisele

To a mixed-race gay man still smarting from a failed relationship during his final year of college, San Francisco seemed like the best destination for Paul Carter after graduation. A city of ethnic diversity, where his red Afro would be less likely to elicit stares, and where a significant portion of the population was also gay, and far enough away from his father whom Paul felt was disappointed in him. If he could just make it through the sky-high rents, having to rent a room from a woman who constantly suspected him of stealing from her, and if he could only find a great boyfriend, like Twitch, the fellow he met on the basketball courts one night shortly after his arrival, and whom he has been "courting" ever since.