Gay pro golfers

Now he’s creating a program to help more athletes do just that. A gay wedding held at a golf course? I just wanted you to have a conversation with the real me.” It’s made me more confident as I’ve grown with the support from the people around me who really don’t give two cents about it all.

Outsports: What do you think are some of the issues LGBTQ+ people face in golf, or sports in general?

JP van der Walt: We just played in a golf tournament during World Pride where people came from all over.

She has played in various professional tournaments, including the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour, and has been vocal about the importance of visibility and representation for LGBTQ+ athletes.

In 2018, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, a prestigious women’s golf event, invited two openly lesbian golfers, Mel Reid and Charley Hull, to participate.

Like, what do you talk about to coaches and what are they looking for? Courses have a chance to host more creative, inclusive events. I graduated from high school in South Africa — and we graduate high school at the end of the year, in December. Like many other sports, golf has had its share of discrimination and barriers for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Still, there are ongoing efforts within the sport to promote inclusivity, diversity, and progressive values.

Several things happened that pushed conversations about inclusivity to the forefront of the industry.

In 2018, professional golfer Tadd Fujikawa publicly came out as gay, becoming the first male professional golfer to do so. Absurd, right?

As a result, even today, the sport is predominantly white male-dominated and has had limited representation from minority groups, such as those from the LGBTQ+ community.

How has your gay identity impacted how you navigate the industry?

JP van der Walt: It really hasn’t changed. The beauty of this game is that the golf ball has no idea who’s hitting it and doesn’t care who you are, and that’s kind of beautiful.

I’ve seen real progress. These moments matter.

It actually made traveling together a lot more fun.

National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)

The NGLCC is an organization that supports LGBTQ+-owned and -operated businesses. In a column of a March 1998 edition, Sheehan revealed that she and her manager, Rebecca Gaston, had been partners for twelve years and had recently adopted a daughter.

Finally, in 1999, the first real organizational move was made when the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) became the first major professional golf organization to include sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy.

This step marked an important milestone for LGBTQ+ inclusion in golf.

Nobody cared.