Contents:
- CHRIS DICKERSON, FIRST BLACK OPENLY GAY BODYBUILR TO W MR. AMERI TLE, DEAD AT 82
- THE PROFSNAL ATHLETE WHO CAME OUT AS A GAY MAN— 1989
- THIS GAY 61-YEAR-OLD BODYBUILR HAS FOUND A HOME HIS STRAIGHT GYM
CHRIS DICKERSON, FIRST BLACK OPENLY GAY BODYBUILR TO W MR. AMERI TLE, DEAD AT 82
Dickerson also had the distctn of beg the first openly gay Mr. Brilliant the posg route, held the rerd of the olst Mr Olympia wner, and was the first openly gay Pro BB ?.
THE PROFSNAL ATHLETE WHO CAME OUT AS A GAY MAN— 1989
The Profsnal Athlete Who Came Out as a Gay Man— 1989.
In the late '80s, a Los Angel Tim poll revealed that nearly 70 percent of the untry thought homosexualy was a s. Now, more than 25 years after g out of the closet, the former bodybuildg champ shar his thoughts on the ath threats he received after his announcement, the fate of his relatnship wh Rod and the untry's shiftg perceptn of homosexualy. "In the Miami bodybuildg circu they probably know me as the gay one, and I've never been met wh any adverse reactns.
I knew I was gay om the time I had hormon and saw my first Tarzan movie.
THIS GAY 61-YEAR-OLD BODYBUILR HAS FOUND A HOME HIS STRAIGHT GYM
Beg a closeted gay kid, to me seemed that if I h a gym and began liftg, somehow, that era, I was gog to be qutned. My formative years Ottawa, the pal of Canada, were marked by anti-gay ernment wch-hunts of the 1960s, as well as hyper-Catholic and eply homophobic parents and brother.
As if by over-pensatg for all this pejorative opn, bodybuildg had a reputatn of beg homophobic at s re. Unls I was at a “gay” gym, ually downtown and urban, I always kept to myself and didn’t reveal too much, jt gettg about my bs wh my trag. We all follow each other on social media and they all know I’m gay wh a boyiend of many years.
What I’ve seen isn’t jt tolerance, ’s acceptance and a welg environment to the pot of beg able to horse around and make the same teasg jokg fun, gay or straight, as if we are all on the same team. Conversatn on Outsports often discs the locker room as an over-hyped ner sanctum where the prence of gay men n sometim ms up the “fun.