It’s Wimbledon time again, and play begins today at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Out lesbian Amélie Mauresmo is the number-one seed and a contender for the women’s singles title. Lesbian icon Martina Navratilova, who turned pro in 1975, will play doubles.
I had the pleasure of hearing Martina talk on an Olivia cruise last spring. She spoke extensively about Shape Your Self, her new health and fitness book. More than just a compilation of exercises, the book describes her entire philosophy of fitness. She explains:
I think the key to a successful transformation from an out of shape individual to a finely tuned one is this—You have to want to change, first of all. The change needs to come from the inside so that eventually the outside will be healthy too.
And it needs to be fun.
Hear, hear.
Martina also walks the walk as a lesbian role model, having created the Rainbow Endowment to harness the power of LGBT dollars. Poke around her official site for more. There’s a lot about her charities and endorsements as well as her tennis. (She supports environmental and animal-rights groups, too.)
Best of luck to Martina, Amélie, and all the other competitors at their sport’s premier event. (I’ll note, however, that Wimbledon remains the only major international tennis tournament that awards the men more money than the women.)
If this talk of tennis inspires you as a parent, the U. S. Tennis Association has information on getting kids started and helping them improve.