For Greg Louganis, a spot on the broadcast team for the 1992 Olympics seemed like a fait accompli. A four-time gold medalist, the California native was an American icon. With sun-kissed skin and an Adonis-like physique, Louganis was made for TV.
Except, he wasn’t part of Olympics coverage. When network execs were weighing whether to feature Louganis as part of their Olympics presentation, one of his competitors for the position told the event’s director and producer his big secret.
Louganis wasn’t only gay. He was also HIV-positive.
The revelation ensured that Louganis would stay off the telecast and away from most commercial opportunities. As a gay man living with HIV, he was deemed too risky. Gold medals be damned.
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“For certain attitudes across the country, HIV was killing the right people: homosexuals, IV drug users and prostitutes,” Louganis told Queerty. “There was a moral underpinning of prejudice. A lot of people asked, ‘You’re going to be commentating, right?’ But that didn’t happen for me.”
Commercial fame didn’t happen for any of the few out athletes around that time, even if they were the best in their sport. Tennis great Martina Navratilova estimates she lost $10 million in endorsements after she was outed in 1981, while Billie Jean King says she lost all of her endorsements in just 24 hours. For the longest time, queer athletes were presented with a decision: live openly, or reap the cultural and financial benefits of their athletic greatness.
For today’s queer Olympians, there is no longer a binary choice. When at least 155 out athletes compete in Paris during this year’s Games, their identities won’t be shrouded in secrecy.
They will be celebrated, as was the case at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when members of Team LGBTQ captured 32 medals. The total would’ve placed seventh if queer people were our own country.
The impressive figure proves Megan Rapinoe was right after all: “You can’t win a championship without gays!”
And when the gays won in Tokyo, they celebrated their queerness. Raven Saunders, the out and proud “flaming gay” shot-putter, flaunted her multicolor hair (silver and Hulk green) and gave a shoutout to the LGBTQ+ community after winning her silver medal. Tom Daley, who’s enjoyed endorsement deals with the likes of Adidas, British Airways, and BMW, said he was “incredibly proud” to be a gay man and capture Olympic gold.
Erica Sullivan, an out college swimmer who won silver in Tokyo, called herself the “epitome of an American person.”
These days, queer Olympians are using their platforms to inspire LGBTQ+ people all over the world. They present their true selves to their masses, showing that it’s possible to live an open life and succeed at the highest levels in sport.
That is Louganis’ ultimate legacy. As he said, “Somebody has to start.”
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How social media leveled the playing field
When Robbie Manson temporarily walked away from rowing in 2020, he had no safety net. Despite competing in the 2012 and 2016 Games, the New Zealand native was just weeks away from destitution.
Thanks to his experience as a horseback rider, Manson landed a job as a stablehand. But the feeling of dejection stuck with him. “It’s hard to have a 12-year career and then afterwards having nothing to support myself,” Manson told Queerty in a previous interview.
Now back on the water, Manson heads into the 2024 Summer Games with more financial security. Since publicly coming out on Outsports, he’s amassed nearly 39,000 followers on Instagram. While Manson is a decorated rower — he captured two gold medals in international events and set a world record after coming out — he knows the bulk of his followers probably aren’t aquatic sports fanatics.
When thinking of ways to earn more money while training for Paris, Manson decided to lean into his identity as a gay athlete — and the inherent thirst that comes along with the visibility. As a rower, Manson’s skintight spandex uniform doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
And on his OnlyFans account, Manson shows his followers even more. He says his page, which he populates with seductive photos and personal updates, has emerged as a reliable and much-needed source of income.
“Being gay does make me unique in a way and sets me apart from my teammates,” he told Queerty in the leadup to Paris. “I see it as a good thing from that point of view.”
See that? Manson says he thinks being gay is a good thing. Stephen Macias, the head of Multicultural Marketing, Communications, and Diversity for Octagon R&CPMK, a global sports marketing, PR and talent management agency network, says the expansion of LGBTQ+ rights has helped push culture along. Out queer athletes are now welcome in spaces that were previously closed.
“When marriage equality was made the law of the land, not only did it open up more possibilities for us to be with our families, but [it] also showed visibility and what we look like in a very different way,” Macias told Queerty.
With a career that’s spanned over a decade, Manson has seen the landscape evolve. When he competed in the 2012 London Games, there were 23 out athletes, and only three were men. One of them was Matthew Mitcham, who became the first out gay man in history to win Olympic gold in 2008.
Mitcham also started his own OnlyFans account in 2023, just a few months before Manson. It’s fair to surmise they share a few followers.
“Social media gives everyone a platform to be more visible,” Manson said. “That’s how the algorithm works. It’s easier to position yourself, [and] find people who you relate to.”
Ramsey Angela experienced the magic of social media in 2021, when he was training for Tokyo. The Dutch sprinter woke up one morning to find his Instagram account flooded with thousands of new followers. Angela was posting pictures with his then-partner, and a queer publication wrote about him. As a result, Angela entered Tokyo as an out gay Olympian, and a much bigger star.
With a lifelong interest in fashion, Angela leveraged his platform to pursue opportunities in modeling and photography. As a surprise silver medalist in Tokyo, he landed a contract with Puma, starring in shoots for the apparel giant.
About a year and a half ago, Angela connected with a marketing agency in the Netherlands, 2nd Loop, and has done shoots for Dr. Martens, Sun68, and Calvin Klein. Whether he’s modeling a pair of briefs or organizing a photo shoot with teammates, he has one mission above the rest: Be authentic.
“This is Ramsey Angela. This is 100% Ramsey Angela,” he said. “The way I dress, it shows that I’m an open person.”
Many of Angela’s teammates are also content creators, meaning that cameras are ubiquitous whenever they’re training or competing. The collaborative environment spurs Angela’s creativity, leading him to organize projects with other athletes.
During a recent session in South Africa, Angela gathered some of his teammates for an impromptu, avant-garde photo shoot.
“There’s so much more in our heads than just being track athletes,” he said.
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Selling more than a product
While Manson and Angela monetize their sex appeal, most out Olympians aren’t cis men. They are women (this year, the total stands at over 80%, as of publication).
One of the most famous queer Olympians competing in Paris is Raven Saunders. Growing up in the 2000s, the shot-putter saw out characters on TV and queer visibility in pop culture. But as a queer Black girl in South Carolina with a love for athletics, there was still nobody whom she could emulate.
From an early age, Saunders vowed she would be the role model she lacked.
“I decided if I ever have a platform, I would speak out for others and help others and let people know they’re not alone, let people know they’re seen, and let people know their struggles aren’t done in vain,” Saunders told Queerty.
When Nike approached Saunders to star in its Be True campaign, the silver medalist was just as known for her vivid displays of self-expression as for her athletic dominance. Growing up, Saunders was a huge WWE fan and models her vibrant appearance — colorful hair, masks, and outrageous nails — in the mold of a wrestling character.
At the end of the medal ceremony in Tokyo, Saunders steeped her name in Olympic glory when she raised her arms in an X to represent her support for the intersection of all people.
Not long ago, Saunders would likely have been encouraged to downplay her intersectionality. Nike, the world’s largest athletic equipment manufacturer in the world, was asking her to do the opposite.
“It’s not really about the clothing,” she said. “It’s more so about the message. It’s more so about the visibility. It’s more about us being shown to a wider generation of younger children, of kids who are like, ‘I want to do something in the world.’ ”
That’s the message that Robyn Lambird wants to convey whenever they star in a fashion shoot. The first nonbinary person to ever win a Paralympic medal in Tokyo, they want other queer and disabled people to know it’s possible to experience joy in life.
“It’s really empowering to be able to look at fashion or advertising and see someone who’s like you, because you can’t be what you can’t see. Disability is just normal.”
Paralympian Robyn Lambird
“Growing up with a disability, you can feel so different from everyone else,” Lambird told Queerty. “It’s really empowering to be able to look at fashion or advertising and see someone who’s like you, because you can’t be what you can’t see. Disability is just normal.”
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy and a wheelchair user, Lambird always gravitated toward fashion. From an early age, they recognized that emphasizing outerwear was a powerful way to reclaim control over their presentation.
“Developing my sense of personal style was a way to have some control over my interactions. If people stare at me, I would have some control over what they see and bridge that gap,” they said. “So it’s not about the disability. It’s ‘Look at this! Look at her sneakers.’ ”
Lambird’s first big break in modeling came when they starred in an activewear campaign for Target before the 2016 Paralympic Games. Still a teenager, Lambird was working with a nonprofit group, Starting With Julius, that helps people with disabilities land media gigs.
The campaign was a hit, helping Lambird sign contracts with other apparel giants, including Under Armour and Tommy Hilfiger. Lambird always posts the finished product on social media, where they have more than 26,000 followers.
Advertising is all around us and shapes our perception of the world. That’s why Lambird says it’s important to establish themselves commercially.
Soccer star Kelley O’Hara feels similarly. As a member of the iconic U.S. Women’s National Team, she knows the impact of stardom firsthand.
During her time with the USWNT, they didn’t just win World Cups and Olympic medals. Their fights for equal pay and LGBTQ+ rights reverberated across the country, placing the issues at the forefront of public discourse.
Indeed, the most memorable moment of O’Hara’s playing career wasn’t winning the 2019 World Cup; but rather, what happened afterward. Amid the celebration, O’Hara raced over to the stands and kissed her girlfriend.
“Coming out doesn’t have to be this grand gesture. It can just be living authentically you,” she said in a recent ABC interview about the unforgettable moment.
Almost 50 years prior, tennis players King and Navratilova fought to protect their privacy at all costs. Now, O’Hara and other female sports stars are the architects of their own outings and stewards of their own brands.
For O’Hara, that means a shift toward the entertainment industry. At the tail end of her playing career, she joined the upstart media company Just Women’s Sports and started creating content. Her favorite bit is “Kelley on the Street,” in which she asks unsuspecting pedestrians questions about herself and women’s sports as a whole.
As a lifelong athlete, O’Hara has always felt secure on the field. Her comfort as a queer, elite athlete speaks to the societal changes that sports can engineer.
“For me, sport was kind of a safe haven to learn about myself and express myself,” she told Queerty. “I think that sport, especially women’s sports, allows for this sense of belonging and support.”
O’Hara’s experience with Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” campaign showed her how commercial campaigns can foster visibility. Female athletes starred in all of the spots, meaning that Under Armour was promoting women’s sports just as much as apparel.
“It had a big impact on a ton of people. I heard so much good feedback from that campaign,” said O’Hara. “Obviously, it’s commercialization. But to me, it’s really about inspiring.”
Inspiration, not desperation
As the head of her own production company, O’Hara wants to invest in projects that highlight queer triumph. Naturally, her first film as an executive producer, Ripe!, is about two queer soccer rivals who fall in love.
When O’Hara first read the script, she recognized the film’s potential for empowering young queer people. The two main characters, Sophia and Gloria, are soccer rivals who speak different languages. They’re brought together through the power of sport, where language is universal.
“So much of the coverage and storytelling of queer stories is sad and ends in heartbreak,” she said. “As a queer person, you want to see happy endings.”
Angela wants to portray that sometimes elusive feeling of happiness in each of his shoots. Whenever he rocks one of his signature fashion-forward looks — or slips on a sleek pair of Calvins — he’s unapologetic in his identity.
“I’m just very proud of who I am, and I really like to give that same energy to others. People who are struggling with their identity, sexuality, you name it. That’s what I want to show them: that it’s possible.”
Olympian Ramsey Angela
“I’m just very proud of who I am, and I really like to give that same energy to others,” Angela said. “People who are struggling with their identity, sexuality, you name it. That’s what I want to show them: that it’s possible.”
Saunders, who dedicates her spare time to speaking with underprivileged youth across the country, always wants to convey the message of possibility. For her, that means opening up about her lifelong battle with depression.
After Tokyo, she starred in her own mini-doc and hosted a TEDx talk about the correlation between mental health and athletic success.
People with mental health issues often fight their battles silently. Saunders provides a voice to their struggles.
“It was just a great relief when I could be me and watch it spill over and see other people relate,” she said. “Being in spaces where people just love you, and you don’t have to change who you are — that’s the greatest thing.”
Forty years after his Olympic glory, Louganis is enjoying the luxury of being loved as a whole human being and not just as an athlete. The evolution unfolded over time.
Even while Louganis was shunned for his sexuality and HIV status, he was always revered as a diver. He recalls visiting Middle America and hearing conservatives laud his accomplishments in the pool. “A lot of people who may have thought of homosexuality as an abomination gave me a pass because I was an Olympic gold medalist,” he said. “It kind of opened up their perspective to say, ‘Hey, maybe this isn’t so bad after all.’ ”
Diversity expert Macias says the evolution trickles down into endorsements: “Social attitudes haven’t only been in our favor but continue to be in our favor, despite the political rhetoric.”
As gay Olympians like Daley and Gus Kenworthy rose to superstardom, Louganis was finally honored with a crowning achievement that eluded him for so long: his own Wheaties cover. He says the gesture is more meaningful today than it would’ve been then.
Finally, his story is no longer compartmentalized.
“It feels more honest,” Louganis said. “I’m a gay man living with HIV. Yes, I have these sports accomplishments, and I’m on a Wheaties box with that information. But I feel like I’m being embraced as a whole person. They see all of me, and not just part of me.”
Featured image: Kelley O’Hara, Robbie Manson, Greg Louganis, Raven Saunders, and Robyn Lambird. Photos by Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports, Robbie Manson, George Long-USA TODAY NETWORK, Andrew Nelles-USA TODAY Sports, Robyn Lambird. Photo illustration by Kyle Neal for Queerty.
