Over the rest of the summer we will release our list of the 100 most important moments in gay-sports history. We have focused on specific moments, whether they be a few minutes or a day, that have shaped the course of our history; Many of the faces of those moments will be familiar to our readers.
We focused on what we consider to be the “gay-sports movement.” There were certainly amazing gay and lesbian athletes before the Stonewall riots in 1969, but there wasn’t a push for gay equality in sports until after that fateful day in New York City. Our moments range from July 1, 1969 to July 1, 2011.
Here's number 100:
Moment #100: University of Florida settles lawsuit with softball player Andrea Zimbardi
Softball, 2004. When Andrea Zimbardi, an SEC honor roll student and a senior captain on the team, was kicked off of the University of Florida softball team in the midst of their march to the NCAA tournament, Zimbardi suspected it was because she is a lesbian. Zimbardi hadn’t been the first lesbian kicked off the team by coach Karen Johns; But she was the first to do something about it.
In 2003 she filed a lawsuit against the school; She was represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. A settlement was reached in 2004. As part of the settlement, the University held a two-hour session on homophobia for its coaches and sports administrators.
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