Belgian tennis star Alison Van Uytvanck had much to celebrate last week during her 5th appearance at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old celebrated her qualifying for the octafinals by running up the the stands to smooch her girlfriend, fellow pro tennis player Greet Minnen, live on TV.
Visibility matters. Coincidentally, it's also #Pride weekend in London, isn't it? #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/hJIra8FfDg
— René Denfeld (@Renestance) July 7, 2018
Earlier this year, the tennis star – currently ranked 47th in the world – came out after winning the Hungarian Ladies Open in Budapest.
At a press conference after the match, Uytvanck was asked if she felt like a role model by coming out and if coming out lifted a weight from her shoulders. Her response was spot on:
“I don’t think it actually changed something about that – being ‘more free’ or something. We just decided to not make it personal and keep it for ourselves. I’m happy anyway if it is with a woman or a man. I just feel like we don’t have to be ashamed of this. And that’s why I also want to be free. I mean, I’m not sick, I don’t have a disease but I feel like its good that I could come out as a gay person.”
Watch Uytvanck handle the question with ease below:
Alison Van Uytvanck talking about coming out as a gay tennis player. This is important guys
video from Wimbledon YouTube pic.twitter.com/VDJslFjrnk
— James 2⃣4⃣ (@P2Hags) July 6, 2018
You'll recall woofy out Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy made headlines around the world when he kissed his boyfriend, Matt Wilkas, after a successful run at this year's Winter Olympics.
NBC broadcasted the moment gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy kissed his boyfriend and people love it https://t.co/M5ecyZzdN5 pic.twitter.com/E2qbQnQYbz
— The Independent (@Independent) February 19, 2018
