The Lavender Locker Room: 3000 Years of Great Athletes Whose Sexual Orientation Was Different

by Patricia Nell Warren

Winner of 2007 Independent Publisher Gold Award for Gay/Lesbian literature. Some are legendary such as pilot Amelia Earhart and golf champion Babe Didrikson. Others are less familiar balloonist Alberto Santos-Dumont and javelin thrower Ana Maria Sagi. Some went public NFL running back David Kopay and downhill skier Erik Schinegger. Others, such as Wilhelm von Homburg, were known only to sport insiders. Some, like jockey John Damien, figured in milestone court cases. Some, like jouster Joan of Arc and racehorse breeder George Villiers, were historical figures. Others, like tennis player Martina Navratilova and figure skater John Curry, competed in modern Olympics. But they have something in they were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. And they stood out extraordinarily in their chosen sport. Their stories, carefully researched and movingly written by landmark author Patricia Nell Warren for Outsports.com, create a sweeping panorama and a heart-pounding literary experience.

Genres: Queer, Sports, Nonfiction

345 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

About the author

Patricia Nell Warren (pen-name Patricia Kylyna) was a Ukrainian and American poet and novelist. She wrote her works in Ukrainian and English.

In 1957 she married a Ukrainian emigre writer Yuriy Tarnawsky and subsequently learned Ukrainian language. Under Tarnawsky's influence she started socializing in Ukrainian emigre writers' circles and soon started writing her own poems, which culminated in her publishing several well-received Ukrainian poetry collections: Trahediya dzhmeliv (New-York: Vydavnytstvo New Yorkskoyi hrypy, 1960), Legendy i sny (New-York: Vydavnytstvo New Yorkskoyi hrypy, 1964), and Rozhevi mista (Munich: Suchasnist, 1969). She published her Ukrainian poetry collections under the pen-name Patricia Kylyna.

After Nell Warren divorced Tarnawsky in 1973, she left Ukrainian literature and never wrote another book in Ukrainian until her death. Instead Nell Warren switched to American literature and tried her best as an American novelist. In 1972 she published her first book in English, a novel The Last Centennial, still under her pen-name Patricia Kylyna (Kilina). Her breakthrough came in 1974 when she published a gay-themed novel The Front Runner. This was the first time she published any of her books under her real name Patricia Nell Warren, and it paid off: the book sold more than 10 mil. copies and was subsequently translated into multiple languages.

For her Ukrainian-language profile see Патриція Килина

Reviews

[Nancy Silk · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Very Well Researched History Of LGBT Men and Women In Sports"

I'm a fan of "The Front Runner" which I read several years ago. I recently saw a few more of the author's books as e-books and downloaded them. This book reveals the many sports gay men and women have excelled in. The stories go back 3000 years and then move quickly to more modern times. This book is a true classic and very inspiring. It's a very insightful collection of LGBT sport pioneers. Quite an accomplishment of research for Patricia Nell Warren.

[Cara Patel]

I love the idea of this book, but Patricia Nell Warren's writing style just doesn't work for me.

I'm not a big fan of memoirs / biographies not written by the person, where it feels like the author is trying to put words in that person's mouth, and this book felt a lot like that.

[Iblena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia Nell Warren no solo se limita a reseñar la vida y trayectoria profesional de un grupo de atletas LGTB mayoritariamente estadounidenses; sino que además realiza comentarios sobre la historia y evolución de las disciplinas en las cuales estos han destacado como deportistas.
Pero sin duda lo más interesante del libro, es como la autora expone la presencia de la homofobia y el peso de los estereotipos sexuales en el deporte desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta el presente, dónde a pesar de la mayor aceptación que existe en la sociedad de la diversidad sexual, la homosexualidad sigue siendo un tema tabú en el mundo del deporte. Lo cual resulta inquietante e indignante al mismo tiempo.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wonderful book is a collection of nineteen essays highlighting gay pioneers in athletics. Originally written for Outsports.com, this book has bound together a series of highly entertaining and fascinating studies. Patricia Nell Warren spent four years unearthing these tales, and her sense of history and attention to detail is inspiring. She covers a wide variety of sports figures: tennis stars, football players, swimmers, track and field legends, boxers, golfers, balloonists, jockeys, baseball stars and aviation pioneers. Her span is as wide as it is deep.

Patricia’s writing is vivid, and her unique perspective make these stories come to life. She captures the excitement, setbacks and the importance of these athlete’s achievements, both on and off the playing field.

These essays are grouped by time period – pre-modern times, early 20th Century, the Great Depression to the Cold War, the fifties and Sixties, and finally on the cusp of Stonewall. In each section, the author writes with grace, wit and tremendous insight.

Being an avid tennis player, my favorite essays were about tennis legends Bill Tilden and Martina Navratilova. But I have to say I enjoyed them all. I found the piece about Amelia Earhart particularly absorbing, also the stories about Gay Rodeo, NFL running back David Kopay, and downhill skier Erik Schinegger. But those of course only scratch the surface of all the rich gay history within this book.

If you like sports – no matter if you’re straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual or whatever – do yourself a favor and read The Lavender Locker Room.