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Greg louganis gay


Olympic diver Greg Louganis tells his coming out story

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LGBTQ+ athletes on how they came out to themselves (2:53)

Out sports stars from across the globe detail their experiences of coming out to themselves. (2:53)

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Oct 11, 2021

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Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis [he/him], 61, won four gold medals across back-to-back Olympic Games, in 1984 and 1988. He came out publicly as gay at the Gay Games in 1994, but was out to those around him from an early age.

What was the 'coming out to myself' process like for you?

When you're really young, you don't really know about sex or sexuality or anything like that, I just felt different. I think I knew pretty early on about my sexual identity and then I fought against it because I was being called 'sissy boy' and all this other stuff. That was really challenging as far as self-acceptance [went], because we all just want to fit in. That was [when I was] pretty young -- probably pre-teens. I just knew that I was different.

Did you have a specific reason for coming out to the media/public, rather than keeping your private life private?

It's kind of an interesting journey as far as my coming out [goes] because I was out in my early 20s. I was out to my friends and family, but not to members of the media. Also, people in USA Diving -- they knew about my sexual identity, because the diving team is a really small team and we're travelling internationally. I came out at the Gay Games in 1994, welcoming the athletes and saying, 'It's great to be out and proud.' That was my public coming out. The reason why I came out at that time was that I knew that I was coming out with my book, 'Breaking the Surface,' in 1995, so I knew that I had to start getting comfortable with talking about my sexual identity with interviews. Because I knew that in 1995, a lot was coming out in the book, because I was coming out with my HIV Status, as well as an abusive relationship, depression, and my learning difference. That was a stepping stone into a bigger picture of being able to talk about who I was as a whole person.

READ: 17 LGBTQ+ athletes share their coming out journeys

USA diving great Greg Louganis, who won double golds at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, is the sports director of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, and is a champion of LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS awareness. Dean Treml/Red Bull via Getty Images

Did coming out impact your career and opportunities at all?

I'm sure it did interfere with endorsements. There was word back to me that because of my sexual identity [being] questioned, that was why I didn't get a lot of sponsorships and it definitely affected me professionally. Just a few years ago, athletes were getting endorsement because of their sexual identity and because of diversity and that whole mentality, but I was old news, so I got passed over, but I think it's wonderful. I needed to do what I needed to do not only for myself, but also for these other individuals behind me to benefit. I'm just so happy that the times have changed and that they do have these opportunities.

How has your sport changed with regard to the LGBTQ+ community during your career?

During my career, it was challenging, and so too after I retired from my sport. I think a lot of the powers that be in my federation were happy to see me move on and hopefully get a new person, a new face, in the limelight. It really has evolved. Now, there's a whole diversity movement within the sport to being able to talk openly about sexual identity or any bullying or anything that is happening, so there's much more awareness and a lot more sensitivity.

What is the most rewarding, and perhaps unexpected, part of being out?

The most unexpected -- the thing that really struck me -- was when I was at the 2012 Olympics in London and I had an interview with Piers Morgan and he asked me about my HIV and I was just very casual. I said, 'Yeah, I take my meds in the morning, evening, and go about the business of living and that's just a part of my life,' so I talked really casually about that. Then, a few days later -- or it may even have been the next day -- [Australia Olympian] Ji Wallace came forward about his sexual identity and HIV status, saying that I was his inspiration. That's what surprises me. That's what I'm kind of blown away with, because I don't think that anybody is really looking at me. It's surprising the impact that we all have really, being open and honest in who we are and sharing that. It empowers so many individuals to not hide in the shadows, to be embraced, because, really, I think the deadliest thing is to isolate. Letting go of the secrets enables you to feel seen, heard and embraced.

What would your advice be to folks who are struggling with their identity?

There are going to be people who criticise, but chances are that if people are true friends and truly love you, then they're going to embrace you and support you. To have that support is so meaningful and so powerful. Doing it in such an honest way; that's what I think people gravitate towards -- authenticity. It really not only empowers you, but it strengthens relationships. It strengthens those bonds we have with each other that we can share ourselves authentically.

When debating coming out in your mind, what were your worst - and best - case scenarios? And did either come to pass?

My thought before I came out to my mom, that was the scariest thing -- to lose the love and support of your parent. My thought before I came out to my mom was, 'Oh my God, if my parents knew that I was gay, then the earth is going to open up and swallow me whole. ' Did that come to pass? No. I was kind of disappointed that my mother wasn't more upset or something -- you know, have some sort of reaction instead of 'what's for dinner?'

It was a little bit more nerve-wracking when I came out in '95, prior to my book, about my HIV status. Being a gay man with HIV, at that time there was still a lot of stigma surrounding HIV. A lot of the attitude in the country and the world was, 'It's killing the right people -- gay men, IV drug users and prostitutes.' And so there was a whole lot of judgement. Because HIV is transmitted sexually, there was a lot of shame surrounding that and a lot of self-loathing and shame and that's a really horrible place to be. I think we're coming around to being more understanding about the virus. It's manageable -- it's not a death sentence anymore, but there's still some stigma, so if you educate yourself, you empower yourself.

Did you ever feel any pressure, either internally or from speculating fans, to be a role model or an ambassador for the queer community? And is that something you embrace now?

That was one thing I was a little concerned about when I came forward with my HIV status -- that I would be the poster boy for HIV. That wasn't something that I wanted, but in a sense I did give it a face and bring awareness to it. I thought that was a good thing. It's not anything that I wanted -- I didn't want that kind of attention -- but I learned that stepping into that can be really powerful and influential. I'm not anything special and I'm no better or worse than anyone else. As long as I can represent myself, that's the best I can do. The one thing when I work with kids -- I encourage them to learn to be their own heroes, because we all have a hero inside of ourselves to be the best of who we are. If we continue to bring that forward, then we will have lived a life to be proud of.

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Celebrating LGBTQ sports history: Greg Louganis comes out at Gay Games

Every day this month, we’re looking back at our pioneers, the mark they left on our community and on the sports world, plus landmark events and stories that show Courage Is Contagious.

Today, a look back at that day in 1994 that co-founder Jim Buzinski described as the first time Olympian Greg Louganis publicly acknowledged he is gay.

By Jim Buzinski

“Welcome to the Gay Games, it’s great to be out and proud.” With those words, gold medal Olympic diver Greg Louganis delivered a message to the Opening Ceremonies of Gay Games IV in New York.

While it might have been Louganis’ official public coming out, his being gay was long rumored in the sports world. It did not make his statement at the Gay Games any less powerful. I was among those at the ceremony at Columbia University who cheered wildly when he appeared on the video screen to deliver his message. Louganis attended the Games competition as a diving judge.

Louganis’ status as a sports superstar was assured by his winning two gold medals in two consecutive Olympics — 1984 and 1988. In Seoul he competed despite testing positive for HIV prior to the Games and briefly thinking about backing out. He then hit his head on a nasty dive in the prelims that required five stitches. Yet he came back with a clutch performance to win the gold in the springboard.

Imagine competing knowing you have just tested positive for a disease that at the time was considered a death sentence. And then conking yourself on the head. And still winning two golds. That shows guts, determination and toughness, all qualities that the stereotypes say gay men could not have in athletics. It was a compelling story, yet one hidden from the public because Louganis was not yet out.

The diver went on the write a best-seller “Breaking the Surface” and became a public face of the AIDS epidemic. Through it all, he endured and thrived.

In many ways, Louganis has come full circle, coaching divers in Southern California, as The New York Times reported earlier this year:

As a competitor, Louganis’s mechanics were so sound that China’s national coaches in the 1980s pored over film of his dives and tailored their programs to match his technical precision. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Chinese have dominated diving much as Louganis did. They have excelled at the expense of the United States, which did not win a diving medal at the past two Summer Olympics.

Louganis emphasizes practice over competition and the whole person over the athlete. He encourages his divers to keep daily journals in which they write their intentions for each practice, then critique their performances.

Louganis is healthy despite being HIV-positive, yet is concerned that younger gay men see the disease as something easily treatable:

“I was diagnosed [ HIV-positive ] 23 years ago … a lot has changed since then. It’s kind of a mixed blessing. People are living longer in general, but, the message that it sends to the kids is, ‘Oh, this can be treated with a pill.’ The only problem with that mentality is, I wouldn’t wish my drug regimen on anyone and also, not everyone tolerates the drugs the same. The drugs, for instance, metabolize differently in women. Plus, there are not a lot of studies [ about the medicine ] on kids. Plus, they see Magic Johnson out there, relatively healthy,” so some don’t worry about an HIV diagnosis.

“Prevention is key. Of course it’s better to not have to deal with it. Protection. Just play safe.”

Louganis is one of the greatest Olympians ever and it’s great to see him still contributing and making a difference.

— Jim Buzinski

Look for another story celebrating LGBTQ sports history tomorrow and every day this month.

Olympic champion Ian Thorp admitted that he is gay

Five-time Olympic champion in swimming Ian Thorpe admitted that he is gay. Gazeta.Ru recalls other famous athletes who have announced their non-traditional sexual orientation.

Ian Thorpe, swimming

Ian Thorpe is a man with a difficult fate. For quiet and peaceful swimming, it can be recognized as one of the most scandalous representatives of this sport. He is known not only for the fact that in 2000 and 2004 he won the Olympics and did it a total of five times. At the same time, he was accused of bribing athletes in order to speak at the Games and of taking doping.

Thorp ended his career in 2006, but tried to restart it five years later. It turned out unsuccessfully - he was unable to perform either at the Olympics in London or at the World Championships in Barcelona due to long-term injuries. The incident plunged him into a severe depression, due to which he was forcibly admitted to the clinic. In his autobiography, the swimmer admitted that he thought about suicide at the time.

While Thorp was a prominent figure in world sailing, controversy about his sexual orientation did not subside. Including because of his serious hobbies in high fashion. The Australian carefully refuted all rumors about homosexual inclinations and even officially declared the traditional nature of his views in his own biography. However, in a recent interview with local television, Thorpe admitted that he was gay.

Greg Louganis, Diving

One of the first athletes to disappoint the female half of humanity was the American diver Greg Louganis. He won his first Olympic medal at the age of 16, becoming the silver medalist of the 1976 Games. He failed to excel in Moscow four years later due to the American boycott, but then scored two gold doubles when strong Chinese athletes appeared on the world stage.

In 1994, Louganis unexpectedly turned up at the Gay Games and thus confessed his homosexuality. This received a generally neutral response from the public, but a year later, Louganis came under fire for yet another revelation.

It turned out that six months before the 1988 Olympics, the athlete contracted HIV. Everyone immediately remembered that during the preliminary jumps, Louganis hit his head on the springboard and his blood ended up in the pool. Although it is impossible to contract a dangerous disease in this way, the American had to apologize to the athletes competing with him for hiding his diagnosis.

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Matthew Mitcham, Diving

Unlike Louganis, fellow Australian Matthew Mitcham chose to talk about his orientation at the dawn of his career. Shortly before the 2008 Olympics, the 20-year-old athlete confessed his affection for men.

Throwing a stone from his soul, Mitchum began to soar above the water as artistically and gracefully as ever. In Beijing, it was expected that all eight gold medals would go to the hosts of the Games, the Chinese, and up to the drawing of awards in the men's tower, they followed their plan.

But Mitcham, who had never competed even at the World Championships, created a sensation and ruined the Celestial holiday. Even fans who are not fond of diving recognized the Australian as one of the heroes of the Olympics for his victory.

True, then Mitcham's career went downhill. In addition to the bronze medal at the World Championships, he could not win anything significant.

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Tom Daly, Diving

Diving is perhaps the most gay sport in the world. Another well-known representative of them is the British Tom Daly. In 2009, this smiling 15-year-old teenager sensationally won the World Cup in Rome and became the main hope of his country at the upcoming Games in London.

Unexpected success at an early age slowed down the development of Daley in terms of sports - for some time he could not return to his level. But at the home Olympics, he still won a medal, becoming third in diving, although he was still in junior age.

After the Olympics, Daly met film director and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for writing the film Harvey Milk, which deals with LGBT issues. Despite a 20-year age difference, Tom and Dustin started dating. At the end of 2013, the athlete came out, but noted that he still likes girls.

Rose-colored glasses

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Johnny Weir, figure skating

Johnny Weir is a figure skating icon. Although this American athlete did not achieve high sports results (except that he once became third at the World Championships), he made everyone who knows how to distinguish salchow from sheepskin coat talk about himself. His effeminate performance, flamboyant costumes, and love of high heels in everyday life quickly tagged him as gay.

For some time Weir denied everything - until 2011, when he nevertheless gave out the open secret. Soon he married an American lawyer of Russian origin, Viktor Voronov, and added his surname to his own. By the way, Johnny is a well-known fan of Russian culture, knows Russian and calls Moscow his favorite city.

Alas, the couple did not last long. Shortly after the Olympics in Sochi, where Weir went not as a figure skater, but as a journalist, the couple announced a divorce. Two months later, Johnny said that they had reconciled, but since then he has not wished to comment on his personal life in any way.

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Thomas Hitzlsperger football

There are plenty of gay players in football, but perhaps the most successful of them is the German Thomas Hitzlsperger. At the club level, he has rarely been lucky, he only managed to win the national championship with Stuttgart in 2007.

But on the other hand, the football player was constantly called up to the Bundesteam, which is a guarantee of replenishment of the shelf for medals. With the national team, he won bronze medals at two home tournaments - the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, and then reached the final of Euro 2008. Hitzlsperger, under the command of Joachim Loew, went through the entire selection campaign for the 2010 World Cup, but did not go to South Africa. Soon he ended his career in the national team, and three years later he finally hung up his boots.

Hitzlsperger rarely appeared in the gossip columns. Only in the summer of 2007 it became known that he broke up with his girlfriend, whom he planned to marry. As the player later admitted, at that time he began to feel gay and made his choice in favor of men. He announced this quite recently, in January 2014.

For more information, news and statistics, visit the page of summer sports.

Back on top - Things like that

Greg Louganis, five-time world champion diver, talks about being openly gay and HIV positive in sports

Greg Louganis, an American diver, four-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion, forty-seven-time US champion, and so on and so forth, came to the IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival just held in St. Petersburg. He was called "the best since mankind invented the springboard", "the man at whose feet lies the world of diving." No one has surpassed his records so far.

Louganis is also a symbol of hope for so many living with HIV. At 1994th, after the end of his career, Greg spoke publicly about his homosexuality. Then such frankness was unprecedented, there were almost no open gays among the athletes.

The following year, Louganis also confessed to being HIV positive. This caused controversy: after all, at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he already knew about his diagnosis. During the competition, he unsuccessfully jumped and smashed his head on the springboard. Blood got into the water, but then he didn’t tell anyone about anything. Even though there was no risk to other athletes (HIV is not transmitted through the skin, and the blood was immediately diluted with chlorinated water that kills the virus), public opinion condemned him. Louganis apologized repeatedly, but it was not his actions, but the stigma that surrounded gays, and especially those who were HIV-positive.

A vacuum has formed around the athlete, most companies have stopped offering him to appear in commercials. He was no longer invited to work as a coach. Until recently, he was on the verge of ruin, almost lost his home, tried different jobs, acted in films - as he himself says, "in different months it was either thick or empty."

Greg Louganis performs at the Side by Side Festival in St. Petersburg Photo: Evgenia Anisimova

Only in 2010, when homo- and HIV-phobia in the States began to decline, he was invited to train young people.

The sportsman came to St. Petersburg with a biographical film about his life, "Rise Again: Greg Louganis", directed by Cheryl Furjanik. And after the picture, Greg Louganis agreed to answer our questions about what was left behind the scenes.

— How did your life turn out right after you found out about your HIV-positive status? How did you get through it?

— It was 1988, I was preparing for the Olympics with might and main. The first reaction was: "I'll go to my place in California, lock myself up at home and wait for death." It was a terrible period - people around were dying of AIDS, and I was quite sure that I would not live to thirty. Such then was life expectancy with this diagnosis.

My cousin is a doctor and he said to me, "It will be much better for you to keep exercising, to stay active." At the same time, I understood that if after the qualifying competitions I feel worse, then, it turns out, I will not let other athletes go to Seoul. It was a difficult decision, but I still went to the Olympics.

I was prescribed zidovudine. It had to be taken every four hours, day and night, waking up on an alarm clock. And the medicine has become an important element of the daily routine. Another important part was the morning workouts - you had to go to them regardless of how you feel.

Now I understand how fortunate it is that I had jumps. I had something to distract myself around the clock, all my thoughts were occupied with sports, and not with illness.

Left: Greg Louganis jumping at the World Championships in Berlin, 1978
Right: Greg Louganis competing in the USA, 1978 Photo: left: AP Photo/TASS right: photo: Madeline Drexler/AP Photo/TASS

— Has the drug situation changed since then?

— Medicines have evolved a lot. The zidovudine I was taking then is a dangerous, toxic drug. Taking many other substances is also very difficult to tolerate - I participated in some terrible test trials. The latest generation drugs are much easier to take. We agree with many familiar experts that sooner or later a drug will be found that will really cure a person. And we believe that after the cure for AIDS, a cure for cancer will also be found. These diseases have much in common, and cancer patients and I are, in general, in the same boat.

- It has recently been twenty-five years since the death of Freddie Mercury. He got infected about the same time as you. But luckily you look great.

— In 1995 my book Breaking the Surface was published and I went on tour with it in America. Even then, I was considered a person who lives for a very long time with such a diagnosis. I met people who lived longer or the same. We had one thing in common: we all led a very athletic lifestyle. Many began to go in for biathlon or ran, rode a bicycle. This activity helps the metabolism deal with toxins.

One day I was supposed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in San Diego, where I was born. It's a pretty homophobic community, and I didn't want to go there. Once upon a time, my mother really wanted this - she dreamed of how beautifully she would dress up, what a solemn atmosphere would be. When my mother died, I already thought that I would not go there. But the cousin insisted and said that she would be there instead of her mother.

I didn't know what to say at all. And in the morning just before the performance, I received a letter from a stranger: “You definitely don’t remember me. We saw each other very briefly at your autograph session in a small town in Oregon fifteen years ago.”

And I suddenly remembered this man - he came with a photo in which I was with my dogs. I wrote to him in the photo, as I usually write: "Believe in yourself." And drew a dog paw print.

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“When you did this,” the man wrote to me, “I made up my mind that I would not attempt suicide tonight. It saved me."

This upset me. We became friends and are still in touch. His life got much better. These are the things that keep me going.

- You try to keep others afloat with your openness.

— At first I was open with my family and friends, but I didn't talk to the press about it. In 1994, I participated in the play "Jeffrey". I played a character named Darius, who was "out and proud" - "open and proud of it. " He lived freely, went to gay pride. In this character, I was able to live out my dream of being that open and also feel my deepest fear. After all, at the end of the play, he dies of AIDS. And this character gives the main character, Jeffrey, a very important, wise thought: "You must hate AIDS, but not hate life." This pushed me to be more open with the press.

For me, the main thing was that there was no need to hide anything anymore, to worry about it. Of course, when you have a boss who can fire you, getting out of the closet can be incredibly difficult. But the freedom you get in return is something incredible. Although coming out is always an individual choice, which can sometimes be too difficult.

Now, of course, a lot has changed. I went to the Rio Olympics this year - there were fifty-six open LGBT athletes and, I think, six coaches. It was the most open Olympics in history.

— What would be important to do to fight HIV?

- Many organizations are making efforts to change the situation. There is, for example, HIV Equal - they say that every citizen has some kind of HIV status - either positive or negative. They urge everyone to get tested. Statistically, the sooner you discover your positive status, the easier it will be for you to maintain a good quality of life. If you ignore this situation for a long time and avoid verification, you are only doing yourself a disservice.

Olympic champion Greg Louganis (center) during the medal ceremony at the XXIV Olympic Games in Seoul, 1988 Photo: Ed Reinke / AP Photo / TASS

— In general, how much has American society changed in recent years? How normal is it now to tell your friends that you are gay, that you are HIV positive?

— These topics are still heavily stigmatized in the US. There are a large number of homophobes - usually they are middle-aged, white, conservative people, often slightly racist. They have such a frequent argument: "Same-sex marriage threatens our marriages. " That is, personally, my marriage threatens their marriage. In such cases, I usually ask again: “And which of you is gay?” Otherwise, how else can my marriage be a danger to them? Simple logic that helps to see the absurdity of these myths.

As for the virus, I visit dating sites, and very often people state in their profile: “I am HIV-negative, I am looking for the same partner.” Many of these people wrote to me. I ask them: “Do you know who I am? It's hard to find someone more open about their status." And they answer: “Oh, you know, I wrote this for my parents - they are very afraid that I will get infected. It really doesn't matter to me." This often happens. In general, society is still little aware. We still have a lot to do. I would like people to share their stories for this. Here is my husband Johnny who is HIV negative. And so far I'm in a good position. All tests give excellent results, the amount of virus in the blood is very small. But I still get checked regularly, take medication every day and, in general, always remember this. It seems to me that when there is a lot of love in a relationship, you will simply do everything to protect your partner.

- Judging by the film, you were not indifferent to Russia, you became friends with the Russian team.

- In Montreal in 1976 I was sixteen years old, all my teammates on the Olympic team were much older than me. But there it was possible to communicate with Soviet jumpers. They were seventeen or eighteen, and it was easier for me with them. There was even such a Sasha, with whom I even fell a little in love.

The Soviet team spent a lot of time with me, taught me how to greet me in Russian - later I found out that it was an indecent word "p ... ts". I also wanted to play a joke on them, but they still knew something in English.

Recently, in 2012, when Putin signed into law a law “banning propaganda of homosexuality,” many American LGBT activists proposed a boycott of the Sochi Olympics. And I was probably one of the few who said otherwise. Such boycotts harm only athletes, not politicians.

Greg Louganis (stage left) performs at the Side by Side festival in St. Petersburg Photo: Evgenia Anisimova

— What do you think about the current situation?

— I ran into her when I came to Moscow for the Open Games organized by the Federation of Gay Athletes between Sochi and the Paralympics. It was very important for me to come and support people at least with my presence. And I was amazed to see how many problems there were. We were almost evicted from the hotel. The opening of the games was thwarted because a false call came in about a bomb. Organizers Konstantin Yablotsky and Elvina Yuvakaeva worked twenty-four hours a day to find another venue. We found a bar. But we were warned that we had to be very quiet - and we could not even clap the speakers, we only showed applause with gestures.

— What would you like to convey to those who disrupt and ban the activities of LGBT communities?

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— First of all, we are not a threat to society.

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