For years it seems that when the queer community has sought equality we have been told to go jump into the ocean. Later this month, 50 or so swimmers in southern California will do just that at Swim for Equality, a new fundraising event for Equality California. Splashing among them will be one all-time Olympic great better known for his spins in the air than his strokes through the water.
"There was a kick-off event for the Swim for Equality and I was just supposed to be an honorary host along with [fellow Olympic gold medalists] Lenny Krayzelburg and Gary Hall Jr.," Greg Louganis told the Bay Area Reporter. "Some of the guests were asking for donations and someone offered to sponsor five swimmers at $2,000 apiece. I just threw my hand in the air."
What Louganis, 50, who made Olympic diving history with gold medals in both the springboard and platform in 1984 and 1988 after a silver in the springboard in 1976, said he did not realize when he volunteered to take the plunge was the distance of the swim: 1.7 miles along the coast of Malibu.
"I'm a diver, not a swimmer!" Louganis said.
To prepare for the event, Louganis began to build up his swimming endurance.
"I've been more or less kind of going by my time in the water," he said. "When I first started out, I did a 10- or 15-minute swim, then built up to a 45-minute swim. I've been going more on time than on distance. A couple of weeks ago, I did an ocean swim where the swim is going to be held. Did it in a wet suit. You kind of float in the water. I thought, 'This is different.' We swam a large portion of it and it felt good. Then the lifeguards called us in. It was a crowded beach and they couldn't keep an eye on everyone."
Equality California spokeswoman Vaishalee Raja said the event was inspired by a similar event held in New York. More than 50 swimmers have signed up (registration closes Friday, September 17) and each is asked to raise at least $2,000, with a total fundraising goal of $100,000. The swim will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, September 25, at Point Dume Beach and finish at Zuma Beach. Afterwards, swimmers, sponsors, and volunteers will celebrate with a barbecue in Topanga at the home of True Blood composer Nathan Barr.
Since coming out with a video message at the opening ceremonies of Gay Games IV in New York City in 1994 and publishing his autobiography Breaking the Surface in 1996, Louganis, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 before his final Olympic event, has been an active spokesman for HIV awareness and LGBT rights.
"The work EQCA is doing is very important," Louganis said. "It really affects our lives, whether it's shooting down Prop 8 or rescinding 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"
Louganis and I spent a few minutes on the phone, sharing memories of the 1980s when he was a dominant but closeted athlete and I was a quietly out member of the journalistic mob documenting his excellence. At the time I had noticed the effort it was taking him to control his entries on his platform dives in the months and weeks leading up to the dramatic final in South Korea – he trailed the entire event until the very last dive, when he pulled out the dive of a lifetime to win it all – and the uncharacteristically emotional breakdown he had immediately afterward, crying in the arms of his coach, Ron O'Brien as the scores went up. It was only years later that I, like most of the public, learned of the dark issues with which he was dealing, from an abusive relationship to fears for his health.
Brighter times now. He and his partner Daniel McSwiney met online three years ago and are living happily in Malibu with their show dogs. My significant other and I met 19 years ago in a bar and are living in Oakland with our show dogs. There were detours getting to where we wanted to be, but if you get lucky, you find a way.
Louganis and I talked a moment or two about how our lives might have been different had we grown up in a world in which we knew a happy marriage was a possibility for us.
"I would probably be a lot poorer now because I wasn't a very good judge of character," Louganis said with a laugh. "But certainly my self-image could have been better. There were those images we had of people growing up that we were taught, of people being predatory."
Which, of course, is what marriage equality is all about: no guarantee of happiness, but more open and informed access to the possibility of it.
For more information on the Swim for Equality or how to donate, visit www.eqca.org/swim.
Little Black Dress Run
San Francisco FrontRunners will hold its 10th annual Little Black Dress Run Saturday, October 2, at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.
The run, approximately 5-kilometers, will start at 9 a.m. There is no entry fee. Breakfast refreshments will be provided after the run. Awards will be made in numerous categories, including best female little black dress and best male little black dress.
For more information on SF Frontrunners, visit www.sffr.org.