Globe and Mail
November 27, 2009

Former Canadian Olympic champion Mark Tewksbury joined globesports.com for a live discussion on homosexuality in sports. A multiple medalist as a swimmer at the Barcelona and Seoul Olympics, Tewksbury was the first Canadian athlete to voluntarily reveal his sexual orientation while still competing. Here are some excerpts from the transcript of the online chat, which can be found on globesports.com:

As a gay person, ironically, I was always guarded and insecure when it cam the environment for progress to happen. Brian Burke being a GM hopefully speaks to other men in positions of power in professional sport, letting them know that this issue (and others that make people feel uncomfortable at times) exists, and that by addressing it in a straightforward and positive way, ultimately will make sport better.

As puberty hit, I knew I was different. Hiding that was always an issue during my career. As I became more known, the challenge of being honest about who I was and really living my life as an open gay person became increasingly difficult. But with time I was able to bridge that gap. But it was a very challenging journey.

I do sometimes wonder what it would have been like had I been ready to announce that I was gay when I swam. Coming out to a coach my final year of sport helped me unify that energy within to finally focus on the external goal. I made a seven-year improvement in 10 months. I wonder how much better I might have been had I been able to unify that energy earlier.

People seem to fall into assumptions and generalizations naturally. I remember Elvis Stojko having to announce that he was not gay. Not sure how we change this part of human nature.