Who are the queer icons waving the rainbow flag high this summer for Team GB?
BY EMILY O’MULLANE, IMAGE BY MIZUNO/GB HOCKEY
Paris 2024 Olympics is setting gender milestones with it being the first Olympic Games to reach full gender parity. The Olympics is also shining in many other areas, including LGBTQIA athletes. The 2020 Games had a record number of out athletes competing in a variety of events. Paris is likely to retain similar figures, and in Team GB, there are five brilliant queer female athletes that we are keeping our eyes out for.
Jasmine Joyce
Jasmine Joyce-Butchers is a Welsh rugby union player who will be part of the women’s rugby sevens team in 2024 Paris. Having previously represented Team GB in 2016 and 2020 at the Olympic games, she will break the record this year by being the first British rugby player to ever compete at three separate Olympics.
After Team GB came fourth in women’s rugby sevens in Rio and Tokyo, Joyce has made it clear in an interview with ITV Cymru Wales that the team’s morale is still high going into this summer: “Don’t get me wrong, we’re going for gold. Absolutely. As you do in the Olympic Games. But enjoyment is key. And with that comes success.”
Joyce is openly gay and married her team-mate Alisha Butchers in 2023. Alongside LGBTQIA issues she is vocal about female empowerment, recently appearing alongside teammates in the #StrongIsBeautiful campaign to show girls “how they can look muscular and strong, as well as feeling feminine.”
Meg Jones
Megan Jones, who will also be part of the women’s GB rugby sevens team this summer, is also a proud lesbian. Meg is outspoken about her sexuality and has made it clear that the haters don’t bother her.
“I’ve been called ‘lesbian’ by people who put a negative connotation on the word,” Meg told Metro. “It’s quite funny because I am a lesbian, and of course that’s not a bad thing, so I don’t let it bother me.”
Meg is in a relationship with fellow rugby player Celia Quansah who she initially met at Loughborough University. The couple were both a part of the team who represented GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones is a field hockey player who plays as a midfielder. For Pride Month, she wrote about how the sport she plays has helped her to come out and why it needs to be a safe space for its players.
“When I was younger, it didn’t occur to me, even having had relationships with women, that I was gay – and I appreciate that is a slightly baffling thought,” she wrote. “It took going to university, and joining the hockey team, to give me that confidence to come out – and even then, it still took some time for me to say the word.”
“Tournaments such as the Olympics, for example, are so visible – they can shape political movements and set the tone for so many other spaces in life. It has that ability to shape and change lives, which is what makes it so fantastic, but also so powerful.”
Sarah Jones and her partner, Leah Wilkinson, who is a fellow hockey player have been dating since 2014.
Kirsty Gilmour
Kirsty Gilmour is a Scottish badminton player who is representing Team GB this summer and hopes that this year she can improve on her Olympic performance after falling in the group stages during her last attempts. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland about how she feels coming into this competition, she said: “This time around, I feel a little bit more calm, a little bit more prepared. I’ve broken that 30-year-old mark. It’s exciting but I’m trying to get less caught up in the circus of it this time.”
“For me as a singles player, there is one chance to win one medal so it’s pretty tough odds. It’s a huge ask but that’s what is so exciting about these major championships – wild stuff can happen.”
Gilmour has discussed the supportive reaction from her friends and family when she came out. “I was in such a lucky position when I came out that I was only met with positive reactions from my friends and family,” she said, speaking to Bruce Mouat for his Olympic Pride interview series.
Emma Wiggs
Emma Wiggs is a British paracanoeist who has had an extremely successful sporting career and is also openly gay. In 2016, Wiggs won the 2016 and 2020 gold medals for the KL2 category and she was previously also a part of the GB volleyball team in 2012.
Wiggs is vocal about the difficulties that she faces being a part of both the disabled and the queer community: “If a disabled person comes out as gay, is that going to be an extra thing? Maybe it’s another barrier?” she commented in an interview with The Telegraph.
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