Washington Blade - September 17, 2004
Steve Weinstein

TWO THINGS I never thought I'd see in my lifetime: an out-gay man as governor. And a out-and-proud lesbian ranked as the No. 1 athlete in her sport.

Yet, here we are in 2004 and both events have come to pass. When Amelie Mauresmo reached the top of the rankings for pro-women's tennis, she joined a growing lists of firsts for our side.

Before Mauresmo, there was Billy Jean and Martina (no last name needed). But the difference between the French player and her predecessors is more striking than the similarities. Both King and Navratilova were outed; in King's case, she went so far as to marry and have children.

Back then, any woman who was too athletic was viewed as suspect. It was an open secret that many of the women on pro teams were lesbians, but it wasn't discussed, at least in polite society or in family newspapers.

Even so, word got out. The Dinah Shore Tournament in Palm Springs grew to become the largest - essentially, the one and only - women's circuit party. Many lesbians have followed the WNBA teams, which have politely accepted their money without doing much toward recognizing them.

But Mauresmo did it her way. She presented herself as a lesbian several years ago, while still a teenager. Furthermore, she said she was in love. And she said it helped her game.

What was most striking about Mauresmo's confession was how little fuss was made. After an initial media mini-flurry, Mauresmo went calmly about her business. She played tennis, played it well, and, even though she has yet to win a major tournament, she has done well enough to reach the top of her sport.

Then No. 1 Martina Hingis suggested at the 1999 Australian Open that Mauresmo's success was because she's "half a man; she's here with her girlfriend." Hingis was roundly denounced by fellow players, the tennis association and the media, and Mauresmo avenged herself in the French Open later that year to the cheers of a supportive crowd.

What a difference a few decades make!

When Navratilova came out, she lost her lucrative sponsorship deals. King was publicly excoriated. Mauresmo, in stark contrast, has kept her corporate sponsorships.

Now there is also a pro player on the woman's golf tour. This state of affairs is a long way from just a scant few years ago, when a (male) executive of the LPGA complained about lesbians giving the tour a bad image.

The next step will undoubtedly be for a major player in the WNBA to come out. When this happens, I suspect the news will once again be that it is not news. Her teammates will continue to treat her as one of them, and her competitors will guard her just as closely.

IF WOMEN'S PRO sports has gone through a sea change, men's pro sports remains firmly at sea.

As the debacles of Magic Johnson (straight, but with HIV) and the mysterious gay Mets player prove, men still harbor inner fears about their masculinity that manifests itself in medieval homophobia.

When Mike Piazza was "accused" of being gay in the media, he gave a gracious, Seinfeldian "not that there's anything wrong with that" denial. The Broadway play "Take Me Out," partly inspired by the imbroglio, examined what might happen is a baseball star came out of the closet.

For now, however, such a scenario remains firmly embedded in fiction. Gay players like Billy Bean and football players Esuara Tualo and David Kopay have waited until they retire before revealing their sexual orientation.

The contrast also pertains to Jim McGreevey, the governor of New Jersey. If it hadn't been for the threat of exposure from the apparent object of his attention, McGreevey would probably still be in the closet - and serving out his term of office.

But he was forced out, and now he will apparently serve until mid-November, which was his stated intention when he first made his bombshell announcement.

McGreevey fended off attempts to force him to resign early enough for a November election, first from Republicans, then from fellow Democrats and, most recently, from a nuisance lawsuit filed by two constituents.

McGreevey's critics had no right to force him to resign before his stated time. The fact that he put his alleged paramour on the civic payroll was deservedly criticized but hardly disqualified him from office.

Let's face it: McGreevey is hardly the first politician to do this. In fact, some New Jersey Democrats apparently quit their campaign for a special election after McGreevey's people "outed" a prominent congressional critic for having his own mistress on his payroll.

Those good-government types on the left in next-door New York who said McGreevey needed to leave have conveniently forgotten a relatively recent Democratic mayoral administration. It was an open secret around City Hall that a "friend" was an appointee. (Newsday ran one or two articles on this, but mysteriously and suddenly dropped the thread.)

MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE fact that McGreevey is gay will remain in the public's consciousness long after Golan Cipel ceases even to become a footnote. A century hence, people will still talk about Bill Clinton, long after Monica Lewinsky is relegated to a "Jeopardy" answer.

When Margaret Thatcher was first proposed as Britain's prime minister, a prominent feminist was asked in the Economist why she was supporting such a fiercely right-wing politician. One hundred years from now, the feminist leader said, few will remember what Thatcher's policies were, but everyone will remember that she was a woman.

Gay leaders in New Jersey are calling on McGreevey to use his remaining time in office to rectify the treatment of other "gay Americans." Although he has already given AIDS activists one important concession - statewide needle exchange - we should be under no illusions that he will be able to make much of a difference in his waning days.

But this lame duck will waddle a lot more gamely than some others. The governor of New Jersey is one of the most powerful governmental chief executives in the country.

McGreevey still wields power. It will be interesting to see how he uses it.

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