Light in the Water: How gay LA athletes battled prejudice. Photo: @LogoTV
In 1982, a group of LA athletes formed a swimming team for the first ever Gay Games. But Many sneered at their efforts.
Their story is now the subject of a new film about how the West Hollywood Aquatics Club overcame prejudice and the scourge of Aids to win victory.
WH20 athletes: The LA club overcame prejudice to claim victory. Photo: @LogoTV
Light in the Water tells the story of the LGBTI men and women who found a sense of family in their membership of the WH20 club, as it became known.
Directed by first time film-maker Lis Bartlett, the film reveals the prejudice the gay athletes faced while in training. And how, back then, the idea of being gay and athletic were seen almost as mutually exclusive.
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The film reveals a different world to that of modern out gay athletes such as Adam Rippon and Tom Daley.
Rival clubs feared getting Aids from WH20 athletes
In the film, one team member explains how local straight rival teams treated them, when they competed against them. Many club feared they might catch HIV from members of the WH20 club. One local club even went so far as adding extra chlorine to the water, to reduce the risk of their team catching Aids.
Morri Spang, a lesbian member of the original club team tells how she was sacked from her job for printing fliers for the gay games at the school where she taught.
But the documentary also features many uplifting accounts of how being part of the WH20 team made members feel stronger.
Moreover, it shows how their combined efforts led them to victory in the first ever Gay Games in San Francisco.
Pink Flamingoes: Gay Games had their fun side, too. Photo: @LogoTV
‘I remember a certain sense of pride,’ one swimmer says, ‘in just being able to be gay on a swim team.’
The team would also go on to set new world records. In 1994, James Ballard, who had been diagnosed as HIV positive, broke a world record in the 100-meter backstroke.
‘It was seen as such a surprise to have a world record holder like Jim Ballard,’ says Spang. ‘As the first gay and lesbian swim team, we were fighting against the idea that men are sissies and the only thing women did in sports was softball.’
The film debuted on Viacom’s US LGBTI network, Logo, on 19 July. Its worldwide release date has not yet been named.
Light in the Water’s release comes just weeks ahead of the 2018 Gay Games, due to take place in Paris from 4 – 12 August.
See also:
Standing ovation as out gay soccer star finally gets to play
