BBC Sport looks at the reer of Mike Bttler, Formula 1's only known gay male driver, and his impact on today's LGBT+ motorsport muny.
Contents:
- THIS GAY RACE R DRIVER IS OUT AND PROUD, AND CHASG HIS MOTORSPORTS DREAM
- THERE ARE MORE 'OUT' GAY RACG DRIVERS THAN YOU THK
- AFTER MAKG HISTORY AS AN OPENLY GAY DRIVER, DEVON ROE CHAS EVEN BIGGER NASCAR DREAMS
- F1 WOULD WELE AN OPENLY GAY DRIVER - SEBASTIAN VETTEL
- LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: MIKE BTTLER - FORMULA 1'S ONLY KNOWN GAY MALE DRIVER
- THIS OPENLY GAY NHRA RACER BUTS FRIDAY TOPEKA. HERE'S WHY GROUPS ARE LG UP TO ENDORSE HIM
- GAY NATN’S TOP FORMULA ONE DRIVERS IN 2022
- TRAVIS SHUMAKE STRIV TO BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NHRA FUNNY CAR DRIVER
- EVAN DARLG THE FIRST OPENLY GAY RACER DRIVER
- GAY NATN’S TOP FORMULA ONE DRIVERS 2021
- GAY RACG DRIVERS
- TRAVIS SHUMAKE STRIV TO BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NHRA FUNNY CAR DRIVER
- PARKERSBURG MAN DISCS BEG AN OPENLY GAY RACE R DRIVER SPORTS ILLTRATED
THIS GAY RACE R DRIVER IS OUT AND PROUD, AND CHASG HIS MOTORSPORTS DREAM
On Tuday, Raphael Orlove and Bill Caswell posed the qutn on Jalopnik, “Why Aren’t There More ‘Out’ Gay Race Car Drivers?” Actually, there are more than you thk. * gay racing drivers *
He took to Instagram and me out as gay last June. If he tak the green flag there, he will jo Stephen Rhos on the list of openly gay drivers a NASCAR natnal seri.
On Tuday, Raphael Orlove and Bill Caswell posed the qutn on Jalopnik, “Why Aren’t There More ‘Out’ Gay Race Car Drivers? ” Actually, there are more than you EVs Can’t Get A Break From The HeatOffEnglishEvan Darlg is an openly gay driver known bt for his efforts road racg. In an exclive terview wh Queers4Gears, the current NASCAR Sprt Cup Champn, Brad Kelowski said, “I don’t thk anyone r (if a driver is gay.
THERE ARE MORE 'OUT' GAY RACG DRIVERS THAN YOU THK
Formula One would now wele s first openly gay driver, acrdg to Germany's four-time world champn Sebastian Vettel. * gay racing drivers *
”That statement is accurate, as the reprentatn of openly gay people the sport is not limed to recently profiled Matthew Pattison, an openly gay official who’s worked the sport for 15 years and is one of the ma officials the Timg and Srg Tower. Queers4Gears profiled an openly gay employee at Michael Waltrip Racg — who works the anizatn wh his partner. ”But what about the sponsors you ask — would an openly gay driver be able to attract a sponsor?
Will there be fans that refe to accept an openly gay driver? Openly gay drivers.
Nothg chang a person’s views more than them knowg and rg about a gay person their life. But Cheney’s view on LGBT rights is squarely the progrsive mp — bee he has a gay child. Attus about gay people are changg Ameri and the grandstands at the race track will not be immune to this shift.
AFTER MAKG HISTORY AS AN OPENLY GAY DRIVER, DEVON ROE CHAS EVEN BIGGER NASCAR DREAMS
* gay racing drivers *
Devon Roe looks to do the same 2021 as the first openly gay NASCAR driver years. Like Wallace last year, Devon Roe uld be that NASCAR driver 2021 who brgs a pletely new set of fans when he be the first openly gay driver to pete at a NASCAR natnal tourg seri event sce 2003. Devon Roe to but 2021 as first openly gay NASCAR driver years.
Stephen Rhos was first openly gay NASCAR driver. Like Bubba Wallace was a trailblazer on the NASCAR Cup Seri as the lone Black driver, Devon Roe will do the same this year on the NASCAR Tck Seri as the only openly gay driver.
Stephen Rhos was the first gay NASCAR driver and he raced a uple of tim 2003. Deep down, he knew he was gay and wanted to be himself.
F1 WOULD WELE AN OPENLY GAY DRIVER - SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Travis Shumake is lookg to bee the first openly gay drag racer at the NRHA Campg World Seri this weekend at Heartland Motorsports Park. * gay racing drivers *
FLORION GOGA/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagRtersJun 8, 2022, 03:54 PM ETFormula One would now wele s first openly gay driver, acrdg to Germany's four-time world champn Sebastian champnship, which started 1950, has had only male drivers on the startg grid sce 1976 but has ma a ph for diversy and cln wh teams showg support for the LGBTQ Mart driver Vettel last year wore a rabow-loured T shirt Hungary wh the msage "same love" to prott anti-LGBTQ+ 34-year-old father of three has also peted wh Racg Pri logos on his r.
"Perhaps wouldn't have been the se the past, but now I thk a gay Formula One driver would be weled, and rightly so, " Vettel said an terview wh LGBTQ magaze Attu that featured him on s ver. "I feel that a gay driver would help to speed up the elimatn of prejudice and help ph our sport a better directn.
LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH: MIKE BTTLER - FORMULA 1'S ONLY KNOWN GAY MALE DRIVER
As we return to racg after the Northern Hemisphere's summer break 's time to give you Gay Natn's Hottt Formula One Drivers of 2022. * gay racing drivers *
"Blackpool forward Jake Daniels last month beme the first active male profsnal player English football 32 years to announce he is gay. The son of 2000 European rally r champn Henrik Lundgaard, the IndyCar sophomore took advantage of his off-roadg background to secure the No.
Bttler remas the only known gay male driver to have peted at the hight level of did so at a time when F1 was an pecially macho environment. "I knew he was gay, but didn't matter my world.
"The racg world of the 2020s is a very different place to that of the Bishop, a Racg Pri ambassador and Aston Mart F1 chief munitns officer, said: "In the early 1970s, people didn't talk about beg gay. "In the Uned Kgdom, was only 1967 that homosexualy was legalised between two nsentg adults private. Overall, he sred five top-10 fish his then the UK was plunged to fancial turmoil by the 1973 oil crisis, and his team did not have the money to stay the 34, Bttler retired om Bradshaw, a motorsport PR nsultant who first met Bttler the early 1970s, said: "There was no stigma wh Mike, he was a nice gentle person - everyone knew he was gay, wasn't a secret and was accepted.
THIS OPENLY GAY NHRA RACER BUTS FRIDAY TOPEKA. HERE'S WHY GROUPS ARE LG UP TO ENDORSE HIM
Page 1 of 2 - Gay racg drivers - posted Racg Comments Archive: Jt wonrg, have there ever been any openly gay drivers profsnal motorsports? * gay racing drivers *
"I spect would have been easier for him to live the liftyle he wanted LA and San Francis, whereas beg gay London was a more secretive thg, " said Phillips.
"'LGBT+ people have always been part of motorsport'Brr Endurance Champnship driver and Racg Pri -founr Richard Morris has had lots of support wh motorsport after g out as gay 2018Sce Bttler's ath, several motorsport drivers have e out as Mans class wner Danny Watts me out 2017, a year after retirg, while the W Seri there is LGBT+ reprentatn on track fellow Brish drivers Abbie Eaton and Sarah Moore. Richard Morris, -founr of Racg Pri and a driver for the Praga team the Brr Endurance Champnship, me out as gay 2018, when already tablished motorsport.
GAY NATN’S TOP FORMULA ONE DRIVERS IN 2022
Some people knew I was gay but I wasn't out - I thk that is very siar to Bttler's experience. "If he was alive, he would have been terviewed about Sectn 28 and gay marriage.
TRAVIS SHUMAKE STRIV TO BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NHRA FUNNY CAR DRIVER
"Sectn 28 was a law that affected England, Wal and Stland, passed 1988 by a Conservative ernment that stopped uncils and schools "promotg the teachg of the acceptabily of homosexualy as a pretend fay relatnship" were mass protts by LGBT+ mpaigners and the law was repealed Stland 2000, before England and Wal did the same 2003.
Travis Shumake pulls the vyl l to reveal the letterg for the anizatn Pri Kansas as he works to plete the full rabow ls on his drag race r Tuday eveng Sprg number of thgs should have stopped Travis two years ago, Shumake had planned his but to the eic, high-octane world of Natnal Hot Rod Associatn drag racg as the erng body's first openly gay the son of NHRA Funny Car drag-racg legend Tripp Shumake, the younger Shumake had grown up that world, havg attend drag rac each summer at the Kansas Speedway and racg shifter karts wh his father the late the s sce his father passed away a 1999 motorcycle accint, though, somethg kept llg Shumake back to the sport — back to followg his father's he started drivg. At a separate race Las Vegas, Shumake failed to qualify, markg the first time the Randy Meyer's dragster that he was drivg failed to qualify over eight all that, Shumake has learned to manage his expectatns, even as he prepar to qualify as the first openly gay drag racer at the NHRA Campg World Seri at Heartland Motorsports Park on Here's how to get tickets for the 2022 Menard's NHRA Natnals TopekaHe'll do so a rabow-lored dragster — plete wh rabow parachut — thanks to a first-of-s-kd sponsorship al wh Vis Topeka, the cy's statn marketg anizatn, and Pri Kansas as the anizatns look to promote the cy as an clive wayTravis Shumake shows off his drag racer at Evergy Plaza Wednday morng tailg the number of world champnships has won. Shumake was recently sponsored by Vis Topeka and Pri Kansas as the first openly gay NHRA racer history and will be petg this weekend at Heartland Park Speedway.
We’ll see where go, " Shumake as he gets ready to race qualifiers Friday, Shumake is exced at the prospect of makg through to the elimatn rounds on Saturday and This Kansas State rearch program is helpg HBCU stunts bee agricultural scholarsVis Topeka, Pri Kansas play role Travis Shumake's but as gay racerDrag racer Travis Shumake, left, works wh team manager and fellow driver Megan Meyer to create a ctom geometric rabow-lored wrap around a race r Tuday their Sprg Hill shop.
EVAN DARLG THE FIRST OPENLY GAY RACER DRIVER
Shumake is beg sponsored by the Greater Topeka Partnership as the first openly gay drag racer.
"One of my hunch was that I would fd somebody willg to sign me who was makg cisns wh the pk dollar md — maybe a gay marketg officer or someone wh a marketg foc on the LGBT piece, " he Dixon, print of Vis Topeka, tak a selfie wh Travis Shumake's drag r durg a media event at Evergy Plaza he reached out to Sean Dixon, print of Vis Topeka, Shumake found someone who was not only willg to sponsor him, but also someone who was willg to vt a racer who uld crease visibily for a cy and sport that historilly have been characterized as nservative and unwelg to LGBTQ people.
GAY NATN’S TOP FORMULA ONE DRIVERS 2021
"His journey and beg the first openly gay sanctned driver really ronated wh , " Dixon said. "But the race r don’t know if I'm a boy or girl, or gay or straight, or Christian or Jewish. Although they never talked about before his father died when Shumake was 15, his father knew he was gay.
There’s 40 ln fans who self-intify as drag racg fans, and there jt should be a gay driver. Follow him on Twter at article origally appeared on Topeka Capal-Journal: Travis Shumake looks to make history as NHRA's first openly gay racer.
GAY RACG DRIVERS
Several officials si racg anisatns say that spe drivers like Lewis Haton and Sebastian Vettel, both of whom have worn Pri lours at var rac this season, beg supportive alli, many queer people team garag feel more fortable stayg Bishop, Aston Mart's chief munitns officer, has worked motorsport for over 25 years, and as "the only [out] gay the F1 village" the 1990s, he has often field msag om people stgglg to e out to lleagu after years the dtry. "Richard Morris, a gay racg driver and founr of Racg Pri, scrib how a simple e of language n e some people to feel like g out is not an optn.
TRAVIS SHUMAKE STRIV TO BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NHRA FUNNY CAR DRIVER
Bee you're aaid that if you say you're gay, and they don't support you, then they're not gog to give you that drive or they won't treat you the same as your teammate.
"So I did enunter some homophobia.
"Emmanouilis, an Atralian wh Greek herage, did not e out to her fay until after universy, but to everyone else she has always been open about beg gay.
PARKERSBURG MAN DISCS BEG AN OPENLY GAY RACE R DRIVER SPORTS ILLTRATED
"To be a woman, to be a gay woman, F1 is important to me, not jt bee I want to be accsible to others and be that visibily, but to help other people who want to be my posn. "Y, you n be a woman a male-domated dtry, or a gay man or non-bary, transgenr, but, at the end of the day, everyone lov motorsport and I thk that's really important to foc on. "Formula 1, as an anisatn, has taken steps to addrs s lack of diversy, lnchg the We Race As One iative 2020 to raise awarens for racial equaly and discrimatn of all kds, cludg anti-gay said their statement: "It will not be a one-week or one-year theme that disappears as issu disappear om headl, will unrp the Formula 1 strategy to make a tangible difference our sport and society.