The Tokyo 2020 Olympics has a record breaking 181+ LGBT athletes competing in it. It has seen more visible out Olympians than all the previous Olympics combined. Furthermore, there are more lesbian and bisexual women than gay and bisexual men, with a ratio of about 8:1. So let’s take a look at some lesbian and bisexual women from Team Canada!
Shaina Pellington, basketballer, “helped lead the University of Arizona Wildcats to the championship game in the NCAA tournament in April, losing 54-53 to the Stanford Cardinal…has played internationally for Canada since 2015…[and] has played with the senior national team since 2018,” according to The Star. Her partner is gymnast Sirena “Rena” Linton.
In Canoe Slalom, Canada is represented by Florence Maheu. “After a handful of World Cup appearances in 2015 and 2016, Maheu became a full-time member of the senior national team in 2017,” according to Olympic. “That year she won her first national title and competed at her first senior ICF World Championships where she was the top Canadian woman in the K-1 event.”
Georgia Simmerling, cyclist, is “the first Canadian ever to compete in three different Olympic Games in three different sports,” according to SportsNet. Georgia has also had to learn how to walk again after breaking both legs and tearing multiple ligaments, which could have ended her career. Instead, she just “got back on the bike.” Georgia is coupled up with Stephanie Labbé, soccer player.
In Golf, Alena Sharp reps for Team Canada – and has done for over 15 seasons – and now is openly swinging for Team Gay. She has revealed her relationship with caddie Sarah Bowman in recent years, which was a big step for the once shut-off Olympian. The pair got married in November 2020! Writer Jason Logan, from ScoreGolf, couldn’t help but notice the correlation between Alena becoming more open about the relationship back in the latter half of the 2010s, and her game improving – as well as her charm:
“Sharp has not publicly discussed the subject before, either because of sensitivities when it came to potential sponsorships or because nobody ever asked. I thought it relevant only because I’d calculated a correlation between this new relationship and her improved play and more pleasant demeanour. In the past Sharp could be curt and gruff, never rejecting media requests but unwilling to fully engage. She wasn’t someone you looked forward to interviewing. More recently, she’s been thoughtful and transparent. Sharp didn’t disagree with that assessment, saying she was uncomfortable with such responsibilities in the past but now recognizes the importance of telling her story. As for the effect her current relationship has had on her game, she said simply, “You have to be happy in life. It makes work easier.”
Alena Sharp is a much more confident, open person in 2021. She spoke about the marriage and even discussed mental health issues, to the LPGA, in February 2021:
“(The wedding) was kind of spur-of-the-moment. We put it together in about a month,” Alena said. “The date, November 23, would have been Sarah’s parents’ 60th wedding anniversary so that was really important, really special. We also did it in our backyard (in Arizona). We went really small, had a caterer come in and set up some tables. A few of our friends came and Sarah’s sister flew in from Maryland. Our Toledo (Ohio) housing mom came down. But that was it. Everybody else was on Zoom. It was around dusk because Arizona sunsets are pretty amazing.
“Our therapist (Donna Diebe) married us. I’ve been seeing her for 10 years on and off for confidence issues and family stuff. She’s just very positive and full warmth and caring. The energy she has is amazing. We’ve known her a long time and she did a great job with the ceremony.”
Alena’s story is a great reminder to seek help and support from others when you need it, in order to live a happy, healthy, confident life!
Elissa Alarie is an openly lesbian Canadian rugby player competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The positions she plays are wing and fullback.
Brittany “Britt” Benn is another Canadian rugby player. “Britt Benn spent five years at the University of Guelph where she obtained five OUA gold medals, three CIS bronze, two CIS silvers and one national championship title,” according to Canada’s Olympic website. “Benn has received countless personal awards. In 2012 alone she was named OUA All-Star, OUA MVP, CIS Player of the Year, CIS All-Canadian, BLG nominee for CIS Athlete of the Year and received the Pioneer OUA Female Athlete of the Year award.”
Ghislaine Landry, rugby player, is “one of the most prolific try scorers in women’s rugby,” according to Canada’s Olympic Website. “Through the 2019-20 season, Landry is the all-time leading scorer on the World Rugby Sevens Series with 1356 points. She sits third all-time in tries (143), second all-time in conversions (319) and is tied for third all-time in matches played (208).”
Ghislaine and her wife, Michaela Hoskins, “met when they were 16 while playing rugby together on Ontario’s junior provincial team,” according to Toronto Life. “After Ghislaine left to join the national league, they kept in touch for a while. Seven years later, they reunited at a memorial for a teammate who had passed away. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly two years, but both felt a spark.” The pair got married in 2018 and Michaela is now pregnant with their baby!
Kaili Lukan, rugby player, “crossed over from playing NCAA basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to suit up for Team Canada on the pitch,” according to Canada’s Olympic Website. “Lukan first joined the National Rugby Team on the World Rugby Sevens Series tour for the last stop of the 2016-17 season in France.”
Annie Guglia, the 30-year-old lesbian Canadian skateboarder and LGBT activist, made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. This is the first Olympics that skateboarding has been introduced. She started competing in skateboarding at 11, when the sport wasn’t regarded as a notable sport and it was unfathomable that a woman could have a career in it. Annie’s partner is Luisa Fernanda.
The (very Sapphic) Canadian soccer team won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics! The team’s out lesbian or bisexual players at the Olympics included: Stephanie Labbé, Kadeisha Buchanan, Erin McLeod, and Kailen Sheridan. Stephanie Labbé is in a relationship with fellow Canadian Olympian, cyclist Georgia Simmerling.
In Canada’s softball team, Team Gay was represented by Larissa Franklin and Joey Lye. Larissa Franklin started playing softball at 5-years-old but quit for a while, to focus on competitive figure skating. “A coach told her she could still play when she had time so she gave it another shot… Inspired by watching the Canada Cup growing up and dreamed about one day being on the field with the players, some of whom are now teammates,” according to Canada’s Olympic website.
Now onto track and field. Bisexual 1500-meter runner, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, said about making it to the finals this Olympics: “I have my eyes set on something big in the finals, so I’m happy that I got the first round done and I felt really good doing it,” said DeBues-Stafford. “I didn’t know what the time was and I thought, ‘oh, this is feeling like a little bit of effort.’ I wasn’t expecting it to be that fast. I felt like 4:03 and I felt really good, and to do it from the front and to control it the way I did. I’m very pleased with that.” Gabriela’s sister, Lucia Stafford, also competed in the same event at Tokyo 2020.
