pride on the podium: queer seniors celebrate sask. sports history
4 minute read
the ussu pride centre and huskie athletics held a rainbow rally a decade ago in the bowl on the u of s campus.
richard marjan
for terry summers, competing in saskatoon’s louis riel relay in the late 1980s was never about winning medals or setting records: for her, the real prize was the people she was able to share the race with.
“we did, in fact, put a group of women together for those races — and it was not a big political statement that it was a group of primarily lesbians who were in that race — but we did it for ourselves, to make a point that we were part of this community,” she said. “that was why we did it: for our own self-worth.”
from participating in amateur and recreational athletics to trailblazing a path to international victories, summers knows that 2slgbtq+ people have been an integral part of saskatchewan’s sports history over the decades.
this year, as the chair of queer seniors of saskatchewan’s ‘our queer history’ project, summers decided it was time for some of those stories to take centre stage at the annual spark your pride gathering in saskatoon.
“we have ongoing work that we do to capture oral histories of queer people who either currently live in saskatchewan or have lived in saskatchewan, who generally are seniors — so, 55-plus,” summers explained. “and the purpose for gathering those stories is to basically recreate our own history within the province of saskatchewan, to make sure that the stories are part of the fabric of saskatchewan.”
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summers was keen to feature athletes like chris baraniuk, a multi-award-winning gymnast and coach who has worked with cirque du soleil, and all-american girls professional baseball league player terry donahue and her partner pat henschel, whose decades-long love story inspired the 2020 documentary a secret love.
terry donahue and pat henschel.
“there are some really astounding and amazing people in saskatchewan who are part of the queer community and who have excelled in sport,” said summers. “we thought it was really important to recognize those accomplishments and to share that information, particularly with younger people in our community and also the public at large.
“we want to showcase those accomplishments and achievements and provide encouragement for some of these young folks here today who are wanting to pursue their passion in sport. there are good role models in this province to follow.”
spark your pride summer research student michael mcdonald was particularly excited to tell the story of saskatoon-born joan phipps, “a woman of firsts” in the horse-racing world.
“she was one of the first canadian woman jockeys — they called them ‘jockettes,’ in the ‘70s — and she was very successful right off the bat,” said mcdonald. “she was the first woman to ride in a canadian triple crown event; was the first woman to ride against men in new zealand; i think she was the first woman invited to ride in trinidad; rode in a bunch of women’s-only races and was very successful.”
jockey joan phipps was a trailblazer from saskatoon.
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mcdonald also interviewed canadian women’s softball team member jacki nichol, who spoke about the experience of being a queer athlete at the 2000 olympic games.
“she spoke about being ‘out’ or ‘closeted’ on an international level,” said mcdonald. “everyone played the same teams; the same women — you knew who was ‘out’ and who was ‘closeted,’ and everyone respected that.”
today as much as ever, summers knows people still find queer athletes’ participation in sports a controversial topic — “i don’t think we can talk about anything that affects 2slgbtq+ people saying that there’s a political side to that conversation, sport included,” she said — so she wants to make sure the positive stories and cherished memories don’t get lost along the way.
“we want to showcase the positive side; the point of view of members of our community who have excelled in sport as well as from the importance and involvement of people in community-based sport, largely as a means to find a supportive community,” said summers. “there is no question that sport is political, especially today with the conversation around trans athletes, but sport is still a way for us to find community. these are human stories.
“our hope is that people will see the history of queer saskatchewan people as simply part of the history of saskatchewan. it is just part of the fabric of saskatchewan, and our stories are just simply another example of a life lived by somebody who loves this province.”
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