Lgbtq+ Athletes Claim the Field: Striving for Equality

"This brief and up-to-date overview highlights the struggles of numerous LGBTQIA amateur and professional athletes across a wide variety of sports. The text is divided into five broadly thematic chapters that somewhat necessarily overlap: stories of athletes coming out, for instance, are woven throughout the text, not just in the 'Athletes Come Out' chapter. The section on transgender and intersex athletes is the most focused and includes high-profile Olympians like Caitlyn Jenner and Caster Semenya as well as lesser-known but similarly pioneering individuals in college athletics, Ironman competitions, tennis, and martial arts. While all of the stories of these athletes are individually compelling, a few organizational stumbles interrupt the flow. The connections between sidebars and the larger text are not always clear and can often be quite tenuous. For instance, one sidebar, 'Child M's Story, ' in the chapter 'The Gatekeepers, ' discusses a gender-fluid child in a way no more related to gatekeeping than any other story. Furthermore, the story does seem better suited for the 'Athlete Bodies, Athlete Genders' section. Since the text is not chronologically arranged, the detailed time line in the back matter more effectively communicates a narrative of major events and progress over time. Crisp color photographs, usually of athletes on or off the field, enhance the text throughout and visually reinforce the message that athletics are for everyone. VERDICT: For libraries with strong interest in sports history or LGBTQIA topics."--School Library Journal

"Hope is found in the past for present and future athletes who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning/queer, or other. In clear, readable text, the author details the prejudices faced by athletes whose gender identity does not conform with their biological sex, are romantically and sexually attracted to individuals of the same gender, or are questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. In an effort to help break down these prejudices, multiple examples of LGBTQ athletes are presented, ranging from Bill Tilden, a tennis player active in the 1920s who came out publicly in 1948, to Michael Sam, the first openly gay man to be drafted into the National Football League. Trans and intersex athletes, such as Caster Semenya and Renée Richards, are also highlighted while exploring their unique challenges and the policies that govern their participation in sports. Discrimination against LGBTQ individuals can also extend to coaches and administrators. The positive tone and multitude of examples create the optimistic belief that LGBTQ athletes will be able to be true to themselves while competing in their chosen sport. High appeal for both athletes and those who support LGBTQ rights."--Kirkus Reviews

"It has only been since about 2010, Cronn-Mills reports in this valuable survey of the status of LGBTQ+ athletes, that fairly large numbers of them have come out. The reaction has not always been salutary. In 2012, for example, Minnesota Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said, 'We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.' Small wonder that in a 2014 survey of 9,500 self-identified LGB participants from six English-speaking countries, America was selected as the country in which gay men felt the least welcome in sports. But it is not only men who are victims of prejudice; women, too, are targets, as Cronn-Mills demonstrates at some length. Yet progress is being made, she asserts, noting that from October 2014-15, a total of 73 sports-related figures came out. Furthermore, national organizations like the NCAA are striving to formalize antidiscrimination policies, especially those impacting transgender athletes, whose situation the author addresses in an especially significant chapter. Elsewhere she examines reasons for anti-gay discrimination and the impact of AIDS on the evolution of the field. Happily, she humanizes these issues with her numerous profiles of LGBTQ+ athletes. Though succinct (only 85 pages of text), hers is an important contribution to the blossoming field of LGBTQ literature."--starred, Booklist